When Destiny Calls You
by fandomlver
Summary: Lok is struggling after Atlantis and the revelations about his father. A new mission in Ireland might be just what he needs...or it might break him...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I thought really hard about magic in the Seeker's world, I watched all the episodes a bunch of times (That was tough :D) If you guys want to know anything specific, let me know and I'll explain as best I can. Otherwise, enjoy the fic...I think this one is about eight chapters long.

This is set between _Coming of Age_ and _The Golden Asp_.

When Destiny Calls You

Dante was starting to worry.

He didn't worry about his team much. In battle there wasn't time, and they generally didn't need it anyway; Lok and Sophie had developed into a very effective team, and Zhalia fought beside Dante with a determination that sometimes surprised and sometimes amazed him. Outside of battle, they rarely seemed to need it either. Sophie was self-possessed to the point of isolation; she rarely dwelt on her mistakes, choosing to learn from them and move on. Zhalia…

He'd kept an eye on Zhalia after Vlad's castle, but when she'd returned to him that rainy day in Venice, she'd seemed easier in herself. The weight she'd carried since the day they'd met was gone, and Metz' easy acceptance and Lok's steadfast belief had wiped out any doubts she had left.

Speaking of Lok.

The boy had been sitting at the table for almost three hours, Cherit beside him, working out of a thick text. Dante had assumed it was one of Sophie's, that he was learning a new power, until she'd told him it was summer homework from the Academy they both attended.

"I didn't think he'd do it," she'd added quietly. "I was expecting him to ask for mine to copy."

Zhalia and Lok both maintained that Zhalia had taken the brunt of the ill-treatment during their captivity in Australia. They agreed that Lok's pneumonia, while alarming, hadn't been as serious as it seemed; it was enough to destroy his control over his magic, but not dangerous in any way. On the contrary, he'd played it up at every opportunity to keep Klaus from taking his magic. And both of them, separately, insisted that the other couldn't have done anything else to protect them. Zhalia agreed that sending Cherit away, though a bad idea at the time, had worked out for the best. And Lok told him how Zhalia had manipulated Klaus into sending for a doctor – indirectly keeping them in Australia long enough for Dante to find them – and how she'd consistently taken punishment herself rather than let them hurt him.

In the wake of her defection back to the Foundation, her protection had come to mean even more; surrounded by the people she'd sworn loyalty to, she'd still stayed by his side, still kept him safe. She could have avoided all her own injuries by simply walking away from him, and she hadn't.

Dante doubted there was much Zhalia could ask for that Lok wouldn't do, trying to repay a debt she'd never even acknowledge.

Zhalia, Lok and Cherit were all adamant that apart from a few shoves, and one medically impersonal examination, no one had touched Lok. So none of them could explain why he was so jumpy now. The first time Sophie had cuffed his shoulder – something she'd done a hundred times in the two months they'd known each other – he'd all but fallen over himself to get away from her, and then locked himself in his room for the rest of the day. They'd learned since; none of them touched him now unless they were on a mission, and then only when absolutely necessary.

"Penny for them," Zhalia murmured, leaning against the wall beside him. Dante tilted his head; Zhalia followed the gesture and sighed. "Lok."

"Lok," Dante agreed.

"I wondered why Guggenheim suddenly ran out of missions. Here we have the fabulous Amulet of Will, the one Eathon Lambert spent twenty years searching for, and we haven't done anything with it yet."

"Atlantis shook Lok up pretty bad. Guggenheim and I agreed to give him as much of a break as we could."

"That might be partly my fault," Zhalia admitted.

"Your fault? How?"

Zhalia glanced at Lok, still bent over his book but probably within hearing range if he'd cared enough to listen, and led Dante into the kitchen. "Lok wanted to know why the Professor wanted him so badly. I messed up, I kept saying 'you' instead of 'us'."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That Eathon Lambert was the best Seeker in his generation, and that you'd taken Lok on because he has the potential to be the best in ours. I didn't - I know that's not the only reason you took him on. I just needed him to stop making Klaus so angry."

She wasn't looking at him, but she thought Dante sounded mildly amused. "Did he?"

"He stopped _talking_. It scared me. But I think that's why, when he realized Eathon had failed…" She fell silent, thinking of the near-rampage Lok had gone on, tearing through Rassimov and his Suits almost without effort.

"Eathon didn't die in that room," Dante reminded her. "It's true he didn't reach Atlantis, but that doesn't mean he failed. He moved on, is all."

"Dante!" Lok called from the other room. "Guggenheim's calling."

Dante headed back into the living room, sitting down beside Lok. Zhalia stayed in the kitchen doorway, raising a hand in acknowledgement when Guggenheim looked in her direction.

"Hello, Dante. Hope you weren't in the middle of anything too important. I've got a mission I think your team might be able to help with."

"What is it, Guggenheim?" Dante asked.

"We've had some reports from Ireland." Lok tensed but didn't speak as he continued, "Specifically from…Killarney. Scarlett Burne has reported what seems to be unaligned Seekers causing havoc there. Unfortunately she is currently in County Meath, at a site called Brugh naw Bone, and she…"

"Bru na Bóinne," Lok corrected him.

"Er…yes. At any rate, she can't investigate it herself. She's officially requested backup, and I thought your team might be the best. Home advantage, and all that."

Dante glanced at Lok. "Killarney's pretty near your mother's home, right?"

"Yeah." Lok looked down at the table. "Pretty near."

"So what do you think?"

"What's the mission?"

"According to Scarlett's report," Guggenheim said, "renovations in a disused store unearthed old graves, thought to belong to a local monastic order. Scarlett believes that three, possibly more amulets were also uncovered. She left Brugh…Meath…to recover them, but before she could they were stolen. Since then there have been incidents in the town she believes can be attributed to new Seekers discovering their powers. She battled them once, but they escaped before she could stop them, and she's had to return to Meath to complete her work there. Besides, this is not really the type of mission she's suited for."

"If these new Seekers don't know what they're doing, they're dangerous," Zhalia said quietly.

"Yes, precisely why we want to find them," Guggenheim agreed."

"And do what?" Lok asked.

"Recruit them," he said, surprised. "A Seeker who figures out how to cast spells on their own is worth recruiting. Oh…Lok." He looked down, shuffling through his papers. "These Seekers aren't using the standard terms for their spells. Scarlett included the names she was able to overhear, but they're in Irish. I'm sending the list to Dante's Holotome now."

"We'll talk to Sophie and let you know what we're doing," Dante said. Guggenheim nodded.

"One more thing, Dante. Scarlett was attacked on her way back to Meath; she thinks it was these same Seekers. She and Gybolg fought them off and there's been no further threats."

Dante nodded grimly. "She's alright?"

"Yes. Be careful, Dante. These Seekers are not above trying to get revenge."

Dante nodded again and Guggenheim's image vanished.

"Why aren't they using the normal spells?" Lok asked, frowning.

"They probably are." Zhalia perched on the coffee table, twisting so she could watch Dante fiddle with his Holotome. "They're just not using the names we would, because they don't know them."

"You and Dante taught me," Lok said, getting it.

"Right. Metz taught him, and Klaus taught me," and she ignored or didn't see Lok's shudder, "but we're all working from the Casterwill spell book; he created the first spells."

"They're most likely using the same spells," Cherit added, "but just not the trigger words you would."

"I knew a Seeker once who yelled 'Higher!' every time he wanted to use Hyperstride. It can be useful in combat, because your opponent doesn't know exactly what you're doing. Here." Dante turned the Holotome towards him.

Lok studied the list of words. "That's fire," he said after a moment.

"Like fire a gun?" Zhalia asked.

"Nu-uh. Flames." Still studying the list, he didn't see the look that passed between Dante and Zhalia. "Jump, throw, smoke…"

"What's wrong?" Dante asked when he trailed off.

"Scarlett must have heard it wrong. That…" He tapped the word _gortaigh_. "It just means hurt. It must have been something else."

He caught the look that time; frowning, he sat back. "What?"

"I'm going to call Sophie," Dante said, getting up and heading for the kitchen again. Zhalia made a face at him; Lok carefully shut down the Holotome, meeting her gaze when she looked back.

"Something Dante thinks I'm not going to like?"

He even managed to sound only mildly bitter. Zhalia shrugged, pretending not to notice. "Seekers who find their powers that way almost always either burn themselves out, trying to do too much, or they join the Organization."

"Why?"

"Because a Seeker who finds his power that way starts to think they're better than everyone. They get power hungry. And if the choice is between the Organization and the Foundation…"

"I guess. They don't just stay rogue?"

"That's not usually an option," she said carefully. "Rogue Seekers are a threat to all of us. If they won't join – the Foundation usually just takes their Titans away."

Lok didn't ask what the Organization did. He knew how far they'd go to protect their secrets.

"Sophie's on her way," Dante announced from the doorway. "You guys ready?"

"Dante?" Lok stood, looking oddly nervous. "Killarney's less than fifteen miles from my mom's house."

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Go and get your stuff; we'll go as soon as Sophie gets here. Maybe your mom would like to see the journal?"

Lok frowned. "Yeah. Come on, Cherit."

Zhalia waited until his footsteps faded. "Twenty eight thousand square miles in that country and you think it's a coincidence?"

"No. Last time we were in Ireland, Lok said his mother's family were from that area."

"His mother's a Seeker," Zhalia said slowly.

"She was. She was good, too; she'd have been a Elite Seeker if she hadn't quit to raise Lok and Cathy. It's possible her ancestors left those Titans there."

Upstairs, Lok zipped up his backpack. Over the last two months he'd got used to travelling light, and since he still had clothes in his mother's house he was travelling lighter than usual this time. Flopping onto his back on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. "Cherit?"

"Aye, m'boy?"

"How does taking a Titan away stop someone using magic?"

Cherit perched on the bed rail, watching him. "That's a complicated one." Lok didn't answer, and after a moment Cherit continued. "Many people have the ability to use magic. Maybe as many as half the people in the world. But magic is wild and difficult to control. Very few people can master it alone."

"So Titans help control the magic."

"Aye, exactly. Titans lend their strength to their Seekers. The more Titans you have, the more control over your magic, the more Titans you can have. In Vlad's castle, when you lost your Titans, you didn't cast any spells."

Lok rolled over onto his front, frowning. "No, I guess not. I didn't really think of it."

"You knew instinctively it wouldn't do any good."

"I guess. Why did the Organization bother blocking Zhalia's magic, then? Why didn't they just take her Titans away?"

"Because she might have gotten her hands on a Titan, taken it from a Suit. And if she'd had her magic, I could have helped her temporarily. Blocking her magic was safer."

"And more painful," he muttered.

"Aye. I don't doubt that was part of it."

"Lok!" Zhalia called from downstairs. "Sophie's here!"

"Coming!"

***

"Ireland again?" Sophie said, when the mission was explained. "And so near your home, Lok!"

"That's what I said," he agreed.

"Have you called your mother?"

"No. I figured I'd call her when we find out what flight we're on."

"She won't mind us arriving without warning, will she?" Dante asked, swinging his bag onto his back.

"Nah. Mom loves having people to fuss over. The more the merrier."

"And Cathy?" Zhalia asked.

"Cathy? Cathy doesn't care what we do." He glanced at Cherit. "You're gonna have to hide a bit, buddy. Cath still doesn't know about the Foundation."

"Why doesn't she know?" Sophie asked. "I think Cathy would be a great Seeker."

"She's certainly more studious than Lok," Zhalia remarked, carefully not meeting their eyes.

Lok mouthed 'boring', smiling when Sophie chuckled. "My mom doesn't want her to feel like she has to join up. She wouldn't have told me yet either, if I hadn't found Kipperon. When Cathy finishes college next year we're going to tell her."

"That'll be a fun conversation. 'So, Cathy, we're all part of a secret organ…secret group, including your younger brother, and we're trying to save the world. Want in?' Don't see how she could say no."

"If you were giving that speech, I'd say no," Sophie told her.

"Studious isn't always better," Dante said thoughtfully. "Sometimes it works very well, like with Sophie here. But Eathon and Lok work best on instinct."

"That's another way of saying he rushes in without a plan?" Sophie asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What about my mom?" Lok asked interestedly, ignoring Sophie.

"Your mother studied. Much like Sophie, she came from a family of Seekers and knew Titans growing up. She only ever Bonded with four, I believe, and two of them are with the Foundation now. When she left the Foundation she only kept Lunar and Solar."

"It's weird thinking about her as a Seeker," Lok said thoughtfully.

"She was very skilled." Dante ushered them out, locking the door behind him. "Now we should go, or she'll be facing down those Seekers by herself."

"I bet she could handle it," Lok said brightly.

"I'm sure she could. Let's not find out."

***

Lok was waiting with Sophie while Dante sorted out their tickets. Zhalia was standing nearby, staring at the arrivals board.

"Sophie?" Lok said quietly. "I read about a spell in one of your books, a warning spell. One you can cast and then anyone can trigger, even if they have no magic."

"Yes, I know the one."

"Can you cast it?"

"Cast it? Why?"

Lok looked away, frowning. "There's…I'm worried about someone. This mission? These Seekers went looking for Scarlett after she tried to stop them."

"Yes, I heard about that," Sophie agreed. "It's not a very difficult spell, Lok, you could probably do it. Setting the trigger is the most difficult part."

"Yeah, but I don't have time to practise it right now. Please?"

"Alright. Do you have something to use as an anchor?"

Lok swung his backpack off, lifting Cherit out and digging through it. Zhalia wandered towards them, pausing.

"Forget something?"

"No. Sophie's just going to show me a little spell."

"Here?" Zhalia raised an eyebrow, looking around.

"It's a very subtle spell, Zhalia, it won't attract any attention," Sophie promised. Lok offered her a small ring, set with a pale pink stone, and she nodded. "That'll do. What's the trigger?"

"I am."

Sophie studied him for a minute before nodding. "Alright."

"What's the spell, Lok?" Zhalia asked.

"It's a warning," he said distractedly, watching Sophie murmur. "If someone holds the ring and thinks of me, I'll know."

"Why?" She touched Lok's arm, turning him to face her.

"Because these Seekers are working fifteen miles from my home, Zhalia." He pulled free of her, turning back to Sophie. Cherit, looking worried, flew up to Zhalia's shoulder.

"There." Sophie closed her fingers over the ring; Lok winced, one hand going to his head. "It's working."

"Thank you."

"It's best if I hold on to it for a while," she added when he reached for it. "While the spell settles."

Lok passed her the box for it, glancing up as Dante joined them. "Everyone ready?"


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Two things this week. First, anyone got experience as a beta or proof reader? The next story is finished, but I'd really like someone to look over it before I post it. It's...a lot different to this one.

Second, my OC turns up this chapter. I hope ya'll don't hate her too much, but remember I did give you the chance to vote her off! If you guys don't like her by the end of the fic, I can try and rewrite.

Enjoy!

Chapter Two

The flight got into Ireland late that afternoon, just after five. Lok was quiet as they headed for Kilorglin, leading them through the village towards his mother's home outside it.

He paused at the end of the main street, eyeing one of the buildings. "Dante? We have a few minutes, right?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I just want to check something." He stepped into the building; Dante shrugged at Zhalia, following him in, and the girls followed on.

It turned out to be a book store. Lok headed for the stairs, and Sophie slipped past Dante to catch up with him. "What are we doing here, Lok?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

He grinned back at her, ducking through the doorway to the children's section. It was deserted except for a salesgirl, kneeling in front of a set of shelves and checking through the books. Lok waved the others to wait for him and passed his backpack to Sophie, grinning at her.

He knelt beside the girl, studying the shelves with every appearance of interest. "What are you doing?"

"Returns," she said absently. "Pass me that."

Lok passed her the book she was pointing at, eyes alight with mischief, and rested back on his heels. Zhalia shifted, about to speak, but he glanced up to catch her eye and she subsided.

The girl spun, eyes wide; Lok caught her arm as she threatened to overbalance, laughing out loud.

"Lok Lambert, you wretch!" Her accent wasn't as strong as Scarlett's, but it was still Irish. "How long have you been home? I should hit you!"

"Only a few hours. We're on the way to see my mom."

"I thought you were studying this summer?"

"Time off for good behaviour."

She laughed, reaching forward to pull him into a hug. Sophie tensed, watching them, but if Lok caught the look it didn't bother him, and neither did his current touch issues; he returned the hug without hesitation.

"Tara," he murmured into her hair, "I've missed you."

"Yeah, well, Venice. I couldn't pass Irish, never mind a foreign language." She let him go, pushing him back slightly so she could rise to her feet. "How long are you home for?"

"I'm not sure yet. It's sort of a flying visit…unexpected time off. And we speak English at school." He turned her bodily to look at the others, taking a step back to join them. "Hey, I want you to meet my friends. Sophie Casterwill, Dante Vale, and Zhalia Moon, this is Tara Malley. We pretty much grew up together after I moved here."

Sophie smiled, examining her quickly. Tara was two or three years older than Lok, with dark brown hair and a thin face, but she seemed friendly enough.

"Nice to meet you." Tara waved a little. "Dante Vale. The treasure hunter?"

Dante frowned. "You have the advantage of me."

"Oh, I took a history course at college. They talked about you, some things you'd found. Thought I might follow in your footsteps, for all of five minutes."

"Well, it's always a pleasure to meet an admirer." He lifted her hand, brushing his lips lightly over her knuckles.

"You're leading Lok's archaeology course, right?" Zhalia snorted, and Tara frowned. "Is that…I thought that's what Sandra said you were doing this summer. Did I get it wrong?"

"No, you're right," Lok said quickly. "Dante's our field leader. Digging up relics, and all that."

"Lok's a very good student," Dante added, mentally thanking Sandra's quick thinking.

"What have you been doing? Tell me everything."

Lok turned to the shelves, scanning them. "A bit of this, a bit of that. You know." He pulled out a couple of books, handing them to her.

"You're worse than Cathy! I ask her about you, I get something about her globe trotting little brother and that's it. Details, Curly."

Sophie laughed. "Curly?"

"Don't," Lok said warningly.

"Lok means curly. Didn't he ever tell you that?" Tara grinned at him.

"Yeah, well, Tara means…never mind."

"Oh, please go on! This is fascinating." Sophie threaded her fingers together, looking as innocent as she possibly could.

"Lok's a very old…Middle English, I think…name for someone with curly hair. That's where we get a lock of hair," Tara explained. "Or it's Chinese for Joy, but whichever. Tell me where you've been, Lok."

"All over. Greece a few weeks ago. Iceland before that. Prague…we seem to end up in Prague a lot…and Rouen."

"Huh. I wouldn't have thought there were many archaeological digs in Rouen or Prague."

"You'd be surprised," Dante offered. "Builders turn up things all the time. In fact, I heard they dug something up in Killarney just recently."

"Oh, the Black Friar's graveyard? Yes, I heard about that." She glanced at Lok. "You're not going poking around there, are you?"

"No. And if we are you don't have to come."

"Black Friars?" Sophie repeated.

"Dominican Brothers. They had a monastery there, a couple hundred years ago. The people who own the shop now thought it was just outside their walls, but either the records are wrong or the ground's shifted."

"Interesting," Dante murmured.

Tara eyed him for a moment before very deliberately pronouncing a sentence in Irish. Dante had no idea what she'd said - he spoke most of the Romance languages, but not the Celtic ones - but from the way Lok choked, he could make a fairly good guess.

"Thank you," he said carefully. Tara smiled, bending down for the pile of books at her feet, and he added, "Help you with those?"

"Thank you." She let him take the books, crossing to a counter at the other end of the shelves. Dante followed, holding the books patiently as she sorted through them.

"Can I assume you just threatened me with something painful if I let anything happen to Lok?" he asked politely, aware of Zhalia standing just behind his shoulder.

"You can. You don't strike me as the kind of man who needs a warning like that, Dante Vale, and I'm not the type to make good on it…" She looked up, catching his eye. "And I'm fairly sure Zhalia would stop me before I got anywhere near you, but yes. If you hurt Lok, there'll be trouble."

"If you know he doesn't need one and you can't enforce it anyway, why bother?" Zhalia asked curiously.

"Whatever happened that Lok's not talking about, it's pretty serious." Dante and Zhalia exchanged looks; Tara went on quietly, "I'm not asking. But I know Lok. Something happened, something that's shaken him up pretty badly, and he's trying to drag himself back up, to piece himself back together. And knowing that people care about him is important for that."

"We care about him." Dante looked over his shoulder; Lok had found the hand puppets and was attacking Sophie with a rhino…or possibly an elephant. It was hard to tell.

"Yes, but you're tied up with whatever happened."

"Dante," Zhalia protested, but he waved her down.

"I told you, I know Lok. He loves Sandra and Cathy, but he doesn't just come home for no reason. Something's wrong with him, and he's come to surround himself with the things he knows, to remember who he is."

Dante nodded slowly as she took the last book from him. "That's more or less what I thought."

"Dante…"

He shook his head, and Zhalia fell quiet.

Lok darted between them, swinging Tara around and holding her in front of himself as Sophie pursued him with the puppet in her hands. "Tara, help me!"

"You break it, you buy it, Curly."

He twisted away, looking utterly betrayed, and held the expression for almost three seconds before breaking down into laughter again. "Spoilsport," he managed between laughs.

"Uh-huh. You know, for an Irish boy living in Italy, you manage to sound very American at times."

"English, Tara, my father's English."

"Yeah, but you're a good Irish boy." She reached out as though to touch his face; he backed into Dante, looking oddly alarmed, but she ignored the move to straighten a book on the shelf behind him. "Is that one of ours?"

Lok glanced down at Cherit, doing his best to lie limp in his arm. "No. I had Cherit with me."

"Cherit," she repeated. "Huh. How long can you stay?"

"Um. Right now? Not very. My mom's expecting us. When are you finished?"

"Half past six," she said with a sigh. "At least it'll be bright."

Lok nodded. "Hey, Sophie, do you have that package I asked you to carry for me?"

"You mean the…yes. Of course." Sophie took a small parcel out of her bag, passing it to him with a frown. Dante turned away, examining the nearest shelf with apparent interest, and Zhalia wandered off towards the counter at the far end of the floor. Sophie turned away to hang the puppet neatly back on its' stand, taking Cherit from Lok on her way.

"Subtle people, your friends," Tara said, bemused.

"Yeah, they're the best."

"Well, Dante could be better. I find it hard to believe he needs a book about how to deal with puberty. Unless it's for you, of course."

Dante quietly put the book back and moved down a few steps to the fiction section; Lok grinned, dismissing him and offering Tara the parcel. "I got you something."

"Yeah? What's the occasion?"

He frowned, shaking his head. "No occasion. Tara…"

"Don't tell me," she said quietly. "I think you probably shouldn't, whatever it is."

"No. Open it?"

She tore the paper off with the enthusiasm of a three year old, and he laughed as he tried to catch the scraps. Inside was the box holding the small ring.

"Ooh, rose quartz! My favourite. Thank you, Curly." She grinned, slipping the ring onto her little finger.

Lok took her hand, twisting the ring so the stone lay against the inside of her finger. "If something happens," he said very softly, and his eyes were very dark, "think of me." And he closed her fingers into a fist over the stone.

"Lok," she said shakily, "what exactly have you gotten into?"

"You just said not to tell you."

"Yeah, but now I'm really scared."

"I didn't mean…"

"For you," she interrupted him. "I'm scared for you, Lok."

"I'm alright," he promised her. "Honest, Tara. Dante and the others…I'm safe, I promise."

Tara looked from him to Dante, who'd turned from the shelf to watch them. The two girls were standing near the door, eyes on the conversation, but she knew they couldn't hear anything.

She held up her hand, still closed into a fist. "Think of you, right?"

"Right."

"Ok, then." She raised her voice. "Mr Vale, I'll ask you to make sure Lok doesn't run off back to Venice…or your dig, I guess…without coming back to see me again."

"I'll do my best," Dante promised.

"But you know Lok," Zhalia said lazily. "Stubborn."

"Look who's talking!" Lok protested, spinning away from Tara. The darkness in his eyes had vanished as he advanced on them, and Tara smiled in quiet satisfaction.

Dante touched her hand, brushing a finger over the ring. "It might help him," he murmured, "if you don't take that off for a while."

Tara shook her head. "I didn't plan to."

***

"She seems nice," Sophie said casually as they walked.

"Tara? Yeah. I've known her forever."

She lowered her voice, glancing back to Zhalia and Dante behind them. "Lok, do you really think she might be in danger?"

"Cathy and Tara are the only people I have who aren't part of the Foundation," Lok said evenly. "Cathy lives at home, and the Foundation have protected the house because of Mom and Dad. Rouge Seekers would find it very hard to get her. But Tara and I stuck together all through school; it's easy to find her, even looking for me." He caught Sophie's look and shook his head. "No. I don't really think she's in danger. But just in case…"

"Right," Sophie agreed. "Just in case."

"Will she do it, if she is in danger?" Cherit asked. "Will she think of it?"

"Mmm. She knows I wasn't telling her something. She'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She doesn't need to know; she'll do it just because I asked."

"Sounds like a very good friend," Sophie said.

If Lok caught the tone of her voice, he didn't react. "The best."

Behind them, Zhalia was frowning. "Dante, Lok came for the mission."

"Yes."

"Tara said he came because…" she gestured vaguely.

"Zhalia, we've been in the country for half an hour and he's already more engaged than he has been for days. I think you're right; between what you told him about Eathon, and what we found – and didn't find – in Atlantis, he needs a break. He needs to think about it. And he probably needs to talk to his mom."

"Eathon was the best."

"Yes. And Lok's better than him; Lok found the entry to Atlantis and retrieved the Amulet his father spent twenty years looking for. He just needs a little break."

"Well, let's hope he gets one this time. Ireland tends to be a little exciting for my tastes."

***

Sandra Lambert was just as happy to see them this time as she had been the last time. Cathy was home this time, working on a school project, but she put it aside when they came in.

Dante slipped out to the kitchen to help Sandra with the tea. "Has Scarlett talked to you?" he asked quietly.

"About the Seekers? Yes. That's why you're here?"

"Yes. That, and…how much has Lok told you about our missions?"

"Not a lot."

"Mom, do you need a hand?" Cathy asked, coming in.

"No, sweetheart, Dante's helping me."

"How long are you guys staying for? I asked Lok, but he said he didn't know."

"We're not sure yet," Dante told her. "A few days, anyway."

"Here, Cathy, bring these out please." Sandra passed her a tray of glasses. "We'll be out in a moment."

Cathy nodded, taking the glasses and heading back into the living room.

"Lok found Eathon's journal," Dante said quickly. "We've been following his trail, but we lost it on our last mission. Lok's been a bit…shaken, since then. Guggenheim and I gave him a break, but this mission…he wouldn't have let us give it to anyone else."

"No," Sandra agreed. "You found Eathon's trail?"

"He was chasing the Amulet of Will." Sandra nodded; she'd known that much. "He left clues, for Lok, but the Organization found him and he led them away from the Amulet. We're not sure where he went after that, but he didn't come back for it."

"I see."

"I'm sorry," Dante murmured.

Sandra shook her head. "No, don't be silly. It's good to know anything. Do you have the journal now?"

"Lok has it. He never lets it go."

"I wouldn't mention it to Cathy. She loves her father, but she never really…"

"I understand," Dante agreed quietly. "Let me take these out. I'll ask Lok to come in here, and you can look at it together. We'll keep Cathy busy for a few minutes."

"Thank you, Dante." She smiled gratefully, letting him take the drinks out into the other room.

Lok slipped inside a minute later, Cherit tucked under his sweater. "Hey, Mom. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Lok. Dante tells me you found Eathon's journal?"

Lok nodded, pulling it out of his bag, and they sat together to examine it.

***

***

For those of you who don't know, most bookshops do returns every week. They choose one publisher, check every book by that publisher and send back anything over a certain age...usually six months...and order fresh copies to replace them.

Hedgi: You were very close! As close as you could be, I think. :D

Dragon: Glad you liked it. After this story, they start not paying as much attention to the timeline, so enjoy it while you have it!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: are at the end of the fic this week. :D Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Cathy played hostess quite willingly, but after a while she excused herself to continue her school project. Lok had reappeared by then, and if he was a little red eyed, no one mentioned it.

"What's the plan, Dante?" he asked, settling on the couch beside Sophie.

"I was hoping to talk to Scarlett. How far is this…Bru na Boínne?" He carefully pronounced it the same way Lok had.

"Bru na Boínne is the proper name for Newgrange and the surrounding area. We were there last time we were home."

"Right. Pretty far away, then."

"She wouldn't get back tonight. But she does have a phone," Lok reminded him. "And a holotome. Why don't you call her on that?"

Dante nodded. "I think I'd better. We need to know everything she knows."

Scarlett wasn't much help, unfortunately, though she was pleased to see them. "I told Guggenheim everything," she said apologetically. "Two boys, a girl, a bit older than Lok and Sophie there. They all three had amulets, but only one of them actually called his Titan, and he looked pretty tired afterwards…they've not been Seekers long enough to have enough power for what he was doing."

"Did you recognise the Titan?"

"Deachtaire."

Sophie's Cypherdex beeped, displaying the Titan. It looked a little like a fish.

"Special abilities; can rapidly assess battles and adjust its' own strategy to match," Sophie read.

"That fits. Deachtaire was the Salmon of Knowledge. Fionn Mac Cumhail used it to gain wisdom, to help him solve problems." Lok sat back, frowning. "I guess he was a Seeker too."

"How did Deachtaire end up in a monk's graveyard?" Zhalia asked, frowning.

"Some of my ancestors were Seekers in this area," Sandra said from the kitchen doorway. "It's possible the amulets were buried with them, if no one knew what they were."

"Many Titans were buried with their Seekers," Cherit agreed. "Sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident."

"Do you recognise the name?" Dante asked, standing to offer her his seat.

"No. At least, only from legends, the same as Lok." She peered at the holotome's display. "A powerful Titan."

"Aye. And the boy didn't know how best to handle it; that much was clear. These children can throw fire and spells, but they're not true Seekers." Scarlett glanced over her shoulder. "I have to go, Dante; my team's waiting for me."

"Congratulations," he said with a smile.

"If I can help, let me know," she added, and her picture faded out.

"There have been fires in Killarney," Sandra said quietly.

"Yes. That's these kids," Dante agreed. "We need to track them down."

"What's wrong?" Cathy asked absently, coming down the stairs.

"Mom was just telling us about those weird fires in Killarney," Lok told her. "Have you heard anything?"

"Oh, they think there's some kids lighting them for fun," she said dismissively. "Mom, I'm going out for a while."

Lok bit his lip, and Sophie said quickly, "Can I come? I didn't get to see much of the town last time we were here."

"We'll be studying," Cathy said doubtfully.

"Sophie's a great student," Dante said easily. "In fact, she was trying to find out about Fionn Mac Cumhail today. Maybe you could help find her something to read while you're working?"

"I won't get in your way, I promise," Sophie added.

Cathy glanced at Sandra, who nodded. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's go, then. We won't be late, Mom."

"Alright, dear. Your friend thinks fast," she added as the door closed, "but is that necessary?"

"Scarlett was attacked," Dante pointed out.

"Yes, because they knew who she was. They have no reason to attack us."

"Maybe. Better safe than sorry, though." Lok looked back at Dante. "What's the plan?"

"We need to know what we're fighting, first. This monk's graveyard?"

"I know where it is."

"Alright." He glanced out the window. "It's late. We'll go tomorrow."

"You know where your rooms are," Sandra said easily. "Lok, can you help me with these?"

"Sure, Mom." Lok gathered up the empty glasses, following her back into the kitchen.

***

Cathy and Sophie returned a couple of hours later, Sophie holding a couple of books. Cathy wished them all good night and went straight to bed.

"Find anything?" Dante asked.

"Only more references to Deachtaire, I'm afraid. I'll go through them more thoroughly tomorrow; perhaps we can figure out what other titans we might be up against. Where's Lok?"

"With his mom in the kitchen." Zhalia gestured. "I think they're looking at the journal."

"Of course, she hasn't seen it in ten years," Sophie said quietly. "What about Cathy?"

"I don't think Cathy would care as much," Dante said.

"Why not? If I had something from my father…"

"Cathy remembers her father. She never really was into puzzles, not like Lok, and she doesn't know about Seekers. The journal wouldn't mean anything to her, not like it does to Lok."

Sophie nodded, rising to her feet. "I'll just say good night."

"Night, Sophie."

"Does she think she's fooling us?" Zhalia asked quietly as the door closed behind her.

"I don't know. Do you think it's that obvious?"

"Dante, _Guggenheim_ probably knows. It's hard to hide something like that when we spend so much time together."

"It is, isn't it," he murmured, and suddenly she didn't think they were talking about Lok and Sophie anymore.

Sophie tapped on the kitchen door before stepping inside. "Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say we're back, and goodnight."

"You're not interrupting us, dear," Sandra assured her. "Lok and I were just catching up. We didn't get much chance last time he was home."

"No, of course not."

"Did you find anything?" Lok asked, rising to clear away the cups they'd been using.

"Not sure yet. I didn't want to do too much in front of Cathy."

"Probably wise," Sandra agreed.

"I'll look some more in the morning. Good night, Mrs Lambert. Night, Lok."

"Night, Sophie," he said over his shoulder.

***

The site was under guard. Dante and Zhalia walked the perimeter, but it was pretty clear they weren't getting in. Even Dante's credentials weren't enough.

"Now what?" Sophie asked, frowning.

"Now we research," Dante told her. "Who was buried here, when. I'll have Guggenheim send us records for any Seeker who died in Ireland."

"Dante, most of the records for this graveyard have been destroyed," she protested.

"It's still the best chance we have."

"Unless these Seekers just appear out of nowhere," Lok added.

"Unlikely, Lok."

"Yeah. Look, there's a tourist office down that way." He pointed down the street. "If they don't have records, they might know who would."

"Zhalia, you and Lok try there. Take Cherit with you. Sophie and I will go to the local library. Lok, when the monks left this site, do you know where they went?"

"Out of town, I think. I'll find out."

"Good. They might have records, too." Dante turned, following Sophie towards the library.

"We should get going," Zhalia murmured.

Lok nodded, turning back to look at the shop once more. A boy who'd been standing at the barricade turned away, bumping into him. "Oh! Sorry."

"No big deal," Lok assured him, taking a couple of steps back. The boy shifted his weight uncertainly. A year or two older than Lok, he had dark hair and eyes and was well built.

"Kind of creepy, huh?" He gestured vaguely towards the building.

"Yeah, a bit." He shrugged.

"Oh, well. Makes life interesting, anyway." The boy half-turned, looking up the street, and Lok frowned, attention caught by a flash near his throat.

"Hey, that's a cool necklace you're wearing. Look." He touched Zhalia's arm. "You were looking for one like that, weren't you?"

Zhalia studied the amulet for a moment before nodding. The design matched Deachtaire's. "Yeah. Where'd you get it?"

The boy had instinctively gripped the amulet. "Oh, I don't really remember. Just thought it was cool, you know."

"Uh huh." Zhalia caught his arm, steering him away from the crowd and into an alley, pushing him into a recessed doorway. Lok followed, keeping an eye on the crowd. "Want to try that again? Where did you get it?"

"Around." He jerked free of Zhalia, pointedly straightening his clothes. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you and your little friends have been causing damage. And we're here to stop you. Where are the other amulets?"

"We have them."

Lok spun, moving out of Zhalia's way as she turned. Another boy and a girl were standing behind them, watching them. The girl had brown hair and eyes and was all but hanging off the arm of the boy, who, blond and blue eyed, looked a little like Lok himself. These two were older, though, closer to Zhalia's age.

"Cherit," Zhalia murmured, "go find Dante. They can't have gone far." Cherit soared straight upwards; the boy eyed him, but they didn't try to stop him.

"Mark," the girl said, "come on."

"We told your friend," the boy said. "Leave us alone, or we'll make you."

Mark stepped out of the doorway, moving around Zhalia. "I would," he advised them. "Aidan has a temper."

"Don't make me prove it," Aidan added.

Lok shifted, watching Mark rejoin his friends. Neither Aidan nor the girl wore visible amulets, but that didn't mean anything; he carried most of his in a pocket, and Zhalia rarely wore hers. It didn't make them any harder or slower to invoke.

"We don't want to fight you," Mark said, ignoring the girl's pout. "We just want you and yours to leave us alone."

"Can't do it," Lok said. "Just hand over your Titans."

"Titans," Aidan repeated. "No. Now unless you want to fight us for them right here, turn around and walk away."

"Lok, come on." Zhalia caught his sleeve, tugging.

"We can take them!" Lok protested.

"Too many people around. We'll get them later, come on."

"Yeah, run away," Aidan agreed. "Keep an eye out, though. We might come after your Titans next."

"I wouldn't," Dante said from behind them. Aidan turned, looking unimpressed.

"This is your backup? An old man and a girl?"

"There's only three of you," Lok pointed out. "And you don't know what you're doing. Hand over your Titans and walk away."

"_Tine_!" the girl hissed, and a jet of fire shot out of her hand, headed straight for Lok.

"Honourguard!" Zhalia yanked him back behind the shield. "Augurfrost!"

Aidan and Mark were attacking Dante and Sophie, but they weren't having any more luck. Sophie's shield held up without effort, freeing Dante to shoot back at them.

"Dante, we can't fight here!" Zhalia called. The street was temporarily empty, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"Deachtaire!" Mark called, and the Titan appeared.

"Lok!" Dante ordered.

"Freelancer!"

Deachtaire was technically almost a match for Freelancer, but Mark clearly had no experience guiding him. Freelancer forced him back into the amulet in less than thirty seconds; Mark stumbled backwards, sitting down hard where he stood.

The girl's attack faltered and dropped; Aidan scowled, wrapping a hand around Mark's arm to get him back on his feet. "Come on. Deateach!"

Thick black smoke spewed out around him, enveloping all of them. Lok coughed, dropping to one knee and trying very hard not to breathe in. His lungs were as strong as they'd ever get, now, but still not as strong as they had been before he'd drowned, and breathing in smoke like that would probably knock him flat.

Cherit bounced off his head, recovered, and landed on his shoulder. "Lok, you ok?"

He nodded, hoping the Titan would feel it; he didn't dare take a breath to speak. "It's clearing up," Cherit assured him. "Just hang on, Lok."

The smoke was clearing. Lok eased backwards until he could lean against the wall behind him, finally risking a breath. The smoke tasted horrible, but it didn't really restrict his breathing any more.

"Lok? You ok?" Dante asked, crouching in front of him.

"Yeah. Just catching my breath. Are they gone?"

"Yeah." Zhalia was standing at the mouth of the alley, eyeing the crowds. "They're gone, all right."

Dante rose, holding out a hand to Lok. "Scarlett was right, they don't have much control."

"Mark couldn't handle Deachtaire at all," Sophie agreed.

"And yet Deachtaire bonded with him," Dante said thoughtfully. "He must have ability."

"You want to go ahead with the plan?" Zhalia asked, coming back to join them.

"Yes. But I'll go with Lok. You two go to the tourist office. Come on."

***

The desk at the tourist office was manned by a guy, who looked up as they came in and smiled. "Ladies."

"Hi." Sophie smiled. "We saw them digging in the centre of town, there. What's going on?"

"Everyone's asking about that," he said, sighing in mock boredom. "They dug up an old graveyard by accident."

"Really? How fascinating!" she cooed. "What kind of graveyard?"

"An old monastic order. They've already sent representatives to come and look. I can give you some information about their current monastery if you like."

"Yes, thank you."

"Who was buried there?" Zhalia asked.

"Monks," he said, frowning.

"I mean specifically. There must be a list."

He handed some flyers to Sophie, still eyeing Zhalia. "The monks have a list, yes. It's not available to the public."

"Simplemind," Zhalia murmured.

"Although I don't see why you can't see it," he continued in the same tone. "It's not really like a secret."

"Thank you," Zhalia said politely, taking the list he offered her. "Come on, Sophie."

"How long does that last?" Sophie asked quietly as they left.

"Only a couple of minutes. He won't remember us after that."

Sophie glanced down at the leaflets in her hand. "I don't suppose we need these."

"Keep 'em anyway. They might be useful later."

***

Notes: Fionn's Salmon has a lot of different names. I choose one I liked the sound of. Bru na Boínne is the name for an area of Meath inculding Newgrange and two smaller passage tombs. And the name Aidan means 'Fire'. I thought it was appropriate. :D

***

Hedgi: Gaelic is the group of languages. Irish is what we, specifically, speak. It's sort of the informal name. :) Tara's a couple of years older than Lok; they talk about it in another couple of chapters.

KaliAnne: The adventures start this chapter! Enjoy.

Kanasukeh: I always love looking at the backgrounds of characters, and we know so little about any of htem really! I'm really glad you like Tara...I was a bit nervous about her...

DragonPhoenix: Wow, Phillipines! Nice. Have a great time. :D


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Sorry! I'm running late. Sorry about that.

Chapter Four

Lok and Dante were on their way back to meet the girls when Lok got a call from Cathy. She was upset and not making much sense, but he gathered enough to know something was wrong.

"Cherit, find the others, tell them something's wrong and we're going straight back," Dante ordered quickly. "Lok, a taxi?"

"Yeah. There's a rank down here." Lok led the way, pale and quiet; the house phone wasn't working, and neither his mother nor Cathy was picking up any more.

Zhalia and Sophie were just behind them as they reached the house; a police car was pulled up outside. Lok scrambled out of the taxi and ran straight for the door.

"Come on," Dante told the girls, paying both drivers.

Sandra and Cathy were inside, both unhurt. The main window was smashed, and the bookcase had been tipped over, but that was the extent of the damage. Sandra looked up from talking to the police when Lok burst in, holding out her arms.

"What's going on?" Dante asked Cathy, drawing her to one side.

"Some kids, messing around," Cathy said in disgust. "I got back just as they were running off. Mom says she's not hurt; they did that," she gestured to the window and bookcase, "and sprayed one of the walls outside."

Dante caught Zhalia's eye; she ducked back out to look at it. "You're sure you're alright?"

"Yeah."

"And you saw the kids?" Sophie asked, one eye on Lok. He and his mother were murmuring together; the police officer was tactfully ignoring them.

"Two boys, a girl. Excuse me." She crossed to her mother, who was looking a little shaky.

"Dante?" Zhalia said from the door. Dante gestured Sophie to wait, following Zhalia outside.

The spray paint had run, obscuring the symbol, but he could still pick it out.

"Deachtaire, I'm guessing?" Zhalia said.

"Deachtaire," he agreed, studying the symbol.

"Why that?"

"So we knew it was them, and we still don't know what other Titans they have. Cherit, I need you to do something for me."

"Yes?"

"Take a perch up there and warn us if they come back." He gestured towards the roof of the house. "You can't come in right now anyway, not until the police are gone."

"Aye, I'll watch out for you."

"Should we clear this?" Zhalia asked, staring at the wall.

"No. It won't mean anything to the police."

"Dante?" Sophie called from the doorway.

Sandra and Cathy had vanished when they came back in; Lok was talking to the officer. "He thinks it was Mark and the others," Sophie said quietly.

"It was definitely Mark and the others. Where's…"

"Cathy took Sandra upstairs. She's very upset."

"I'm not surprised."

The officer cleared his throat, glancing apologetically from one to another of them. "Lok here tells me you saw these kids?"

"We saw kids," Dante said carefully.

"I wouldn't call them kids," Zhalia added. "Aidan and the girl were close to my age."

"And the third…" he peered at his notes. "Mark?"

"About my age," Sophie offered. "Dark hair and eyes."

The officer nodded, asking a few more questions before excusing himself. "We'll drive by a few times during the night," he told Lok. "We've got everything we need, you can clean up."

"Thanks." Lok closed the door after him, flicking the lock. "That was pointless," he decided, eyeing the broken window.

"We'll take care of that," Dante told him. "You go with your mother and sister."

"Come on, Lok." Sophie caught his hand, tugging him lightly towards the stairs.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking back at Dante. "Dante? We're going to get these guys, right?"

"Yeah. We are," Dante promised him.

***

The next day didn't yield any answers, though; they couldn't find out who Mark and the others were, and they couldn't find anything about the amulets that might have been buried in the graveyard. After most of a day of staring at books, Lok declared that he needed a break and headed off. Sophie frowned, following him.

"Where are you going, Lok?" she called.

"I'm going to see Tara."

"Can I come?"

He paused, studying her. "Yeah. If you want."

"Of course. She seems nice."

"You said that already." He grinned, starting off again.

"How long did you say you'd known her?"

Lok frowned, thinking. "Ten years, I guess. She used to get really badly bullied in school, so I helped her out."

Sophie nodded, thinking to herself that that sounded _exactly_ like something Lok would do. Of course, being Lok, he probably hadn't been much good at it. "That sounds nice."

"Not for her," he protested, but he was still smiling.

"Well, no. I suppose not."

"I don't suppose you were ever bullied. Santiago would have stopped it."

"You'd think," she agreed distantly.

Lok eyed her, but she obviously didn't want to discuss it. For once he let it drop.

"They have really good drinks there," he commented, gesturing as they passed the little café beside the bookshop. "Buy you one?"

"Maybe later." She smiled, though, accepting the peace offering for what it was.

Tara was serving a customer when they reached the children's department; Lok sat on the small table, waiting for her to finish up.

"Should you be sitting there?" Sophie asked, eyeing him.

"Probably not." He didn't move.

"Off the table, Curly," Tara said as she joined them. "There's chairs around."

"Aww…"

"Oh, come on, Curly, you're a big boy now. Hi…Sophie, right?"

"Sophie," she agreed. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice to be seen. Last time Lok came home he didn't come visit me at all."

"I meant to! Things just…got busy."

"Uh huh. You're aware that we're in _Kilorglin_, right? I'd have thought a world traveler like you might know the difference, but maybe you're jetlagged or something…"

"You're funny," Lok said flatly.

"I know! No one else ever appreciates me, but I knew you'd like that one, Curly." She patted his cheek, smiling.

"Excuse me?" a customer said from behind Lok. "Do you have the new Darren Shan book?"

"Yes, of course," Tara said, stepping around Lok. "It should be just here."

"Lok!" Sophie hissed. He turned, looking over his shoulder, and then jumped to his feet.

Aidan was standing beside Tara, smirking.

"I thought it was right here," Tara was saying.

"No problem. Do you have…"

"Tara's going on her tea break now," Lok said firmly, stepping forward.

"Lok!" Tara protested. "Sorry," she added to Aidan. "What was it you were looking for?"

"Never mind, I see it here." He pulled a book off the shelf. "Thank you."

"Thanks, Aidan, see you again!" Tara smiled politely as he left before turning on Lok. "Lok Lambert, are you trying to get me fired? What's the big idea?"

"Who is that?" Lok demanded. At the far end of the floor, Aidan smiled back at him, dropping the book on the nearest shelf and leaving. Tara, focused on Lok, didn't see.

"What?"

"You knew his name. Who is he?"

"Of course I knew his name! He was in school with us. Aidan. Don't you remember?"

"He was? No, I don't." Lok frowned, thinking. "Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure. I'm surprised you don't remember."

"Oh. One of those?"

"Yeah. One of the ones you used defend my honour from. Such as it was."

"Tara," Sophie said, taking a step forward, "we saw him earlier with a girl, and another boy called Mark. Do you know them, too?"

"Why?" Tara frowned.

"It's important," Sophie hedged.

"Yes, I suppose it must be. The girl was probably Laura. She joined our school the year after you left, Lok, in Aidan's year, two ahead of me…she's probably twenty odd, give or take, same as Aidan. But Mark was in class with us. Or, he was until they sorted out his records and moved him up a year, anyway. He must be eighteen now."

"Was he friends with Aidan?"

"They knew each other, but they weren't friends, really…and Mark wasn't like Aidan, he wasn't nasty. He was in foster care, remember? Kids said there was a fire, but he wouldn't tell anyone. That's why he was in our class – his records got lost somewhere, so they just pushed him in with us. He was bored out of his skull all the time."

"I remember, sort of," Lok said thoughtfully. "That was about four years ago, just a year before I left for Venice."

"About that, yeah."

"But he's friends with Aidan now?" Sophie prompted.

"He's not as bad. But it is a case of one bad apple, I'm afraid. Laura's worse than any of them; Aidan will do anything she says, and Mark's almost as bad. They're getting a name around here."

Lok looked at Sophie, thinking. "Ok. Ok. Tara, when are you finished tonight?"

"Nine o'clock. It's late opening."

"I'll meet you."

"Lok…"

"I'll meet you," he repeated. Tara nodded quickly, obviously hearing the tone.

"Ok. I'll wait here, then."

"Thanks," he murmured. "Come on, Sophie."

"See you later," Sophie said, smiling at Tara.

"Later, Sophie."

She was still staring after them when they left the shop.

***

"It did seem like he was warning us," Sophie said, watching Lok pace. "They didn't follow Scarlett, once they were sure she was leaving them alone; if we leave, Aidan won't go near any of the others."

"Lok, do you think Tara might stay with your mother for a while?" Dante asked.

"Yeah. If I ask her, yeah, she will."

"Sit _down_," Zhalia told him. To Dante, she added, "We need to keep Cathy home, as well."

"Sandra's already on that, and Scarlett's on her way down to strengthen the barriers around the house. They won't get in again."

"Thanks." Lok sat, perching on the edge of his seat as though ready to move again.

"Lok, do you want us to come with you to bring Tara home?"

"No. Thanks. I'll have to tell her something. Better if it's not all of us."

"I'll come," Sophie offered.

"One of us is going with you," Dante said when he started to protest. "We won't interfere with whatever you're telling her, but Aidan and his friends have targeted _your_ friends and family twice now. They're after you."

"They can't exactly go after your friends and family, can they?"

"That's not the point, Lok, the point is you're a target and we're not leaving you alone."

"Yeah, ok," Lok agreed. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. We're used to you acting weird," Zhalia assured him.

Lok laughed softly, looking at Sophie. "Are you coming, then?"

"Yeah. Cherit, you'd better come too. We might need a demonstration."

"Aye aye," Cherit agreed cheerfully, ducking into Lok's hood.

"Aw, Cherit, you're getting heavy. We're gonna have to put you on a diet, or something."

"I don't eat, Lok."

"Not much, anyway," Sophie agreed. "Not unless it's sweet, right Cherit?"

Cherit grinned. "What can I say? Lok's mother makes the best pies."

***

Tara was standing by the back door of the shop, talking with another staff member, when they reached her. She waved goodbye, trotting to catch up with them.

"So. Something really important is going on?" she asked.

Lok nodded, taking her bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "Come stay with my mom for a couple days."

"Sure. She cooks better than my mother." She studied him, frowning. "What's happening, Curly? Or, can you tell me anything about it?"

"Some, yeah, but first of all I want you to meet someone, ok? Don't freak out."

"That doesn't sound good."

He grinned, reaching up to tug at his hood. "Cherit? Come out and meet Tara."

Cherit crawled out onto his shoulder. "Nice to meet you, Tara."

"Nice…Curly, that's a gargoyle."

"Titan."

"Oh, well that makes it better." She turned abruptly away, leaning on the nearest wall and breathing quickly. "Sorry, Cherit," she added after a moment. "I'm not…you seem really nice, it's just…"

"I understand," Cherit assured her, crawling back into Lok's hood again.

"Start talking, Curly."

"Yeah. Cherit's a Titan. Most other Titans are...I'm not sure how to put this..."

"I read a lot of fantasy," Tara said flatly. "I can keep up."

Lok glanced over his shoulder. Sophie was skulking along behind them, pretending not to listen to them; he was grateful to her for giving them at least the illusion of privacy. "Sorry. Most Titans are found in amulets like this one." He touched Kipperon's amulet. "Certain people can Bond with them, call them out and use their powers."

"People like you and your friends."

"Right. We're on the trail of some amulets we think were buried with the Black Friars," he said slowly, still trying to decide how much it was safe for her to know. "They're dangerous; we want to keep them out of the wrong hands."

"Are they in the wrong hands now?"

Lok grimaced; he hadn't known Mark very well, and he didn't know Aidan or Laura at all, but they were still schoolmates of a sort. "As far as we can tell, Mark, Aidan and Laura have them. But they don't know what they have, not really," he explained. Glancing back at Sophie, he gestured her to catch up. "They can do a lot of damage without meaning to."

"That's why there's no pattern," Sophie added, falling into step on Tara's other side. "They're just like children playing with a new toy."

"And that's why I suddenly have a guard of honor?"

"These people know who we are," Sophie told her. "And they don't want to give up their toys. They tried to scare Lok's mother yesterday, and they attacked a friend of ours earlier this week. We're just being careful."

Tara blinked, halting. "These people threatened your _mother_ and you're hanging around with me? Lok!"

"Mom used to work for the people we're with now," Lok told her. "She and Cathy are safe, they're protected. Oh, yeah…" He scrubbed a hand sheepishly through his hair. "Cathy doesn't know any of this, so could you not let on?"

"You're an idiot," Tara told him.

"Hey!"

"A noble one, but still an idiot. Why do you tell me this and not Cathy?"

"Because I know you, and seeing Cherit is enough for you to believe it. Cathy would want more demonstrations, and that would attract the wrong kind of attention. Besides, Mom doesn't want Cathy to know."

"Why not?"

"Because my mom and dad and I are all part of this. She doesn't want Cathy to feel like she has to join up." He caught her eye. "You're not joining up either."

"Hmm. Not sure I could if I wanted to, you haven't told me anything worth anything." She smiled suddenly. "Thank you."

"Hey, any time you want me to not tell you things…no, wait. That's not right."

Tara laughed, looking at Sophie. "It's hard to stay angry at him, have you noticed?"

"Like a puppy," Sophie agreed, carefully ignoring his indignation. "He just sort of droops when he's upset."

"But a very cute puppy. A Labrador, maybe. Lab pups often trip over their own feet."

"Should I just walk on ahead and let you two talk about me?" Lok complained.

"It's not as much fun if you can't hear us, Curly," Tara explained.

"Not as much fun for who?"

"Us, naturally." Sophie smiled innocently. "Who else is there?"

"Ok. You two aren't allowed talk to each other anymore. I knew I should have brought Zhalia."

Tara sobered. "We're only teasing, Curly. How worried should I be?"

"We know what we're doing; this should be over soon. You just need to listen to us."

"Until?"

"Until we're done."

"Alright," Tara agreed. "I'll be good."

"That'll be the day," Lok muttered, and got thumped twice for his trouble. "Hey!"

And then the world exploded around them.

***

***

Kali: Glad you're enjoying! I'm really enjoying yours. :D

Kanesukah: Poor Cathy never gets to figure it out! And I like Mark. I was pretty happy with how he came out.

Dragon: You're reading my mind! The next story, after this one, is a dark AU. ::Grins:: I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!

The Owarimasu: This fic's finished, so it will definately post! There's an AU after this one, and I'm working on the one after that...more ideas than time to write htem right now! I'm glad you're enjoying. Thanks for the great review.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Sorry! My internet crashed yesterday.

Chapter 5

"I'm getting tired of this," Lok said, climbing to his feet. Cherit shook the impact off, lifting into the air beside him.

"Shame, cos we're not!"

He grimaced as the smoke cleared, revealing Mark and Laura. "Only two? You guys haven't a chance!"

Sophie was back on her feet. He let her and Cherit watch them for a moment while he crouched beside Tara. "You ok?"

"If this is what your life is like now, Curly…"

"It's not. Well, not all the time, anyway." He helped her to her feet. "Stay behind us, ok?"

"Oh, not a problem."

"You two done fooling around yet?" Mark called. "Cos we're ready to kick your arse!"

"Yeah, we're ready." Lok stepped into place beside Sophie. "Come on, summon your Titans again. It's fun watching you collapse like that."

Laura hissed, but Mark didn't react. "I don't need a Titan to stop you."

"Are we going to fight, or just talk?" Sophie asked politely. "Because if it's talk, I'd rather do it somewhere else."

Zhalia and Dante dropped neatly down on either side of them. Lok heard Tara gasp, but he didn't turn; Laura looked far too happy for someone as outnumbered as she was. "Dante," he murmured.

"I see it." Dante didn't bother keeping his voice down. "Can we wrap this up, Mark? Lok's mother has guests and we really should be getting back."

"Guests?" Lok repeated, seeing Laura falter.

"Turns out Scarlett and her team got a couple days off," Zhalia drawled. "They came to visit."

"It's turning into quite a…what's the word?"

"Ceile," Tara said from behind him.

"Ceile, that's it. Thank you."

Mark was scowling; whatever plan he'd had, Dante had obviously foiled it. "Tine!"

Fire burst from his hands and roared towards them; Dante and Sophie threw up shields, letting the flame burn itself out.

"Scaoil!" Laura added. "Leím!" She somersaulted over their heads, landing behind them. Dante and Zhalia turned, moving as one to put Tara between them.

"Kipperon!" Lok lifted into the air, hovering over the group and shooting Boltflares at Laura, driving her back a few steps to give them some more room. Tara blinked, watching him.

"Curly, you can fly," she murmured. He grinned quickly at her, watching Mark and Laura warily.

"Aithníg!" Mark yelled.

Lok caught Sophie's eye when she went to retaliate. "Don't. That's _know_, it's like Mindsight. He'll know what you're doing. Zhalia?"

"It'll wear off in about twenty seconds. Tara, move."

Tara scrambled out of her way, crouching against the wall near Dante. "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night," she murmured.

"Sorry?" Dante asked.

"It's…sorry. I was thinking of a poem. 'Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.' I always loved those lines. They seemed vaguely appropriate right now."

"The Old Astronomer," he agreed.

"Fascinating, but could we save the poetry appreciation for later?" Zhalia suggested.

"Sorry, but I'm trying really hard not to freak out right now," Tara shot back. "You're obviously used to people shooting light from their hands and calling monsters out of nowhere. I'm not. I'm this close to a break down."

"Titans, not monsters."

"Tomayto, tomahto. Does it always take this long?"

"Normally we'd be summoning our Titans, but these kids aren't up to our level. It's kind of overkill." Dante lifted another shield as Laura threw another blast at him.

"I say we just call 'em and get it over with," Zhalia grumbled.

"Dante, why aren't they fighting?" Sophie asked. "They're not even trying to overpower my shield." Mark fired another half-hearted _Tine_, almost obscuring her words, but her shield held easily.

"Because they're not – Armourbrand! – trying to beat us."

Lok's eyes widened and he pushed off the building behind him, landing behind Mark and grabbing him before he could react. Laura hesitated, letting her attacks die as she watched them.

"What's the plan, Mark?" he demanded.

"We just want you to leave us alone," Mark protested. "Why can't you leave us alone?"

"Because you're hurting people," Sophie told him.

"Where's Aidan?" Dante asked. Mark shook his head, and he added "He sent you out here against four vastly superior, more experienced Seekers. We could have taken you out by now if we wanted to. You know that."

"You're not my superior anything," Mark muttered, but he stopped fighting Lok.

"He's using you," Zhalia said, voice surprisingly gentle.

Lok reached – slowly – for the amulet at Mark's throat. Mark let him take it, eyes closed.

"Where is Aidan?" Sophie asked quietly.

"He…"

"Leím! Gortaigh!"

The two words almost blurred together, spoken in one breath. Dante and Zhalia started for Laura; Sophie threw a shield in front of Mark even as Lok was pulling him backwards. The angle of the shield was wrong, though; while most of the blast dissipated harmlessly a foot from Mark's face, the edge of it clipped Sophie's shoulder and she screamed in pain, dropping to the ground.

Dante and Zhalia went for Laura, but she yelled "Deatach!" and was gone before the thick black smoke cleared. Lok was kneeling next to Sophie, blushing furiously; Laura's attack had shredded the shoulder of Sophie's dress and he was trying to examine the wound without actually touching her.

Dante waved Zhalia towards them, glancing around. Tara was still crouched against the wall, watching dully as Lok and Sophie squabbled and Mark stood uncertainly a few feet further back.

"Tara," he said quietly. She looked up without any sign of surprise and took the hand he offered her after blinking at it for a moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked, giving her a quick once over.

"If you'd asked me two days ago," she said conversationally, "I would have said there was nowhere he could go I wouldn't follow him. I can't even see the path he's on from here."

"It's tough the first few times," Dante agreed quietly. "But Lok would never ask you to follow him. He doesn't want you in this world."

"It doesn't matter what he asks me."

"Hey, Tara?" Lok called. "You remember that first aid course from sixth class?"

"Better than you do, apparently." She turned away from Dante, moving to kneel beside them.

"Hey, I studied really hard!"

"Asking the nurse to help you with mouth to mouth doesn't count, Curly."

"You're really bad for my self-image, you know that?"

"But I'm great for your ego. Sophie, does that hurt?"

"No. Ow! Yes."

"You didn't hit anything vital, but it's pretty badly bruised. You're going to be really sore for a while."

Dante came back to crouch beside them. "How's it going?"

"I'm fine," Sophie said quickly, daring the others with a look to contradict her.

"Good. We need to get going, can you handle it?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Laura will be on her way back," Zhalia said. "Probably with Aidan, since they can't get at your mother, Lok."

"Why does he want to get at my mother anyway?" Lok asked, twisting to look at Mark.

"She has Titans," Mark explained. "And she's not a Seeker anymore. Aidan figured it'd be easier to get hers than Scarlett's."

"You can't just take Titans like that. They won't bond with you."

Mark looked away, and Dante said sharply, "What?"

"If he can't break in and get them, they're moving on to Laura's plan."

"Which is?"

"Snatch Cathy or Tara and get Sandra, Scarlett and the rest of you to hand over your Titans that way."

Lok looked up, alarmed. "Dante…"

"It's alright, Lok. Cathy's surrounded by Seekers and Tara's with us. Mark, where are they based?"

"Ross Castle."

"Ross Castle is a ruin," Lok protested. "A haunted ruin."

"Haunted!" Zhalia snorted.

"That's the legend."

"It keeps people away," Mark explained. "No one ever goes there."

"Will you show us?" Dante asked.

Mark bit his lip, looking away.

"I know where the castle is," Lok offered.

"No. I'll show you."

"Good man." Dante smiled at him. "Sophie, let's go." Sophie nodded, climbing somewhat awkwardly to her feet.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Lok asked, shadowing her.

"Yes, Lok, I'm fine."

"Dante," Mark said quietly. Dante paused, waving Zhalia on and falling into step with him. "Aidan's power hungry, and he doesn't much care who he hurts, but he's not really evil. But Laura knows what she's doing. She's cruel. She's leading him on, making him worse than he would be alone. She's who you need to look out for."

"I see," Dante said thoughtfully. "Thank you, Mark. How did you get into this, anyway?"

"You want the sob story? Aidan and Laura and me, we're all the same, so…Aidan found the amulets; he just thought they were cool, so he took them. But Laura bonded first, and when I actually called out Deachtaire we figured out more or less what was happening. We were just messing around; I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, but everything we did it just got worse. I was afraid to go against them."

"I see," Dante murmured.

"Dante…you'll take care of Deachtaire, right? He's a good Titan. It's not his fault we made him do those things."

Dante considered him for a moment, about to speak.

"Dante!" Zhalia called.

Laura was standing in front of them, hand already glowing with power. "Mark," she said sharply.

He took a step away from Dante, but he didn't move towards her. "Laura," he said evenly.

"Come on."

"He's not going anywhere with you!" Sophie told her. "Boltflare!"

A shield sparked around Laura and the flare bounced off.

"Watch yourselves! Aidan's around somewhere." Dante stepped forward, pulling Mark with him. "Do you see him?" he added, more quietly.

"No." Mark glanced around, ducking as Laura fired at him.

"Lok!" Dante called.

Lok glanced around quickly, trained eye catching a flicker of movement. "On the left! On the roof!"

Mark stood, staring in that direction. Zhalia yanked him down again, scowling. "He's aiming for _you_, idiot."

"What? But they want me _back_."

"You had your chance!" Laura yelled, sending a wave of fire at them. Sophie threw up a shield, wavering under the attack.

"Dante, I can't…"

Dante caught Lok's eye, nodding. "Caliban!"

"Freelancer!"

"Kilthane!"

The three Titans managed to block the road almost completely between them. Caliban looked interestedly at Aidan, who scrambled to jump off the roof and rejoin Laura.

"Mark?" Lok said quietly.

"They can't. They've used too much magic tonight. They're not strong enough to go through a battle as well."

And Aidan and Laura were retreating, although slowly.

"But they _are_ strong enough to follow us and fire on us from behind," Mark added grimly. "That's what we did with Scarlett…her Gybolg was too strong for Deachtaire, so we harassed her and hoped for a lucky shot."

"Lok, we need to get back to your mother's," Dante said quickly. "Fast. What's the quickest way?"

Lok glanced around, orienting himself. "This way." He held out a hand for Tara, tugging her after him. Sophie kept pace with them, watching around them; Zhalia pushed Mark after them, and Dante brought up the rear with the Titans, keeping an eye out behind them.

The path led them towards the church; Lok ducked under the arch, pulling a torch out of his pocket and leading them around the side of the building. They were heading out on the other side when a bolt of fire hit Freelancer, taking him out. Lok stopped, one hand on the wall as he caught his breath, startled by the rush as the Titan retreated to his amulet.

"Faster, Lok!" Cherit called from somewhere behind. "They're getting closer!"

"Lok? This way," Mark called, pointing. Lok followed his gaze, nodding quickly and heading towards the high walls he was pointing to.

Tara jerked to a halt outside the gate; Lok doubled back, catching her hand. "Tara, we don't have _time_."

"What's wrong?" Sophie called, coming up behind them.

Lok waved it away, focusing on his footing. His torch, caught between his body and Tara's, was pretty much useless, and the light from the street didn't reach this far back.

"Blotflare!" Sophie called. The ball of light drifted over Lok's head to light the path in front of him.

The others caught up with them as they reached the far wall. Lok drew Tara to a halt, keeping hold of her hand, watching Sophie examine the wall.

"I think we can get over it alright."

"Jump out, not down," Mark advised her. "There's a stream just under the wall on that side."

"We don't have long." Dante linked his fingers, leaning down to boost Sophie.

"What's wrong with her?" Zhalia asked, glancing at Tara.

"Coimetrophobia," Tara murmured. Sophie, perched on the wall, reached down to help her up.

"She's afraid of Titans, graveyards and fighting. Is there anything she's _not_ afraid of?"

"Zhalia, lay off!" Sophie protested. "She's not a Seeker."

"Lucky for us."

"If she could turn it off it wouldn't be a phobia," Lok added. "She's still here."

"She shouldn't be," Zhalia said, aiming the words directly at Dante.

Tara didn't respond to any of it, shuffling backwards along the wall, away from Sophie, and reaching down to help Mark up between them. "Can you make the light again?" he asked Sophie. "It's kind of rough on this side."

Sophie obliged and he jumped, clearing the stream and turning back to catch Tara. The others followed quickly behind.

"Tara, can you find my mom's house from here?" Lok asked.

"Yes, of course, but…"

"Good," he interrupted her. "Take Sophie there. Tell my mom we're fine and we'll be home soon, and get her to look at Sophie's shoulder, ok?" To Dante, he added, "We need to go finish this. They'll fight us at the castle."

"Hmm."

"Mark, you go too," Zhalia added. "Lok, you can find this place, right?"

"Yeah. I know where we're going."

"It's nearly eight miles," Mark pointed out.

"Better get moving, then," Sophie said brightly.

Mark nodded; Tara lifted a hand in an awkward wave before turning away.

"You don't trust Mark?" Dante murmured as they followed Lok.

"I'm not sure I do," Cherit said quietly, curling around Lok's shoulders.

"Laura could talk him back pretty quickly. I'd rather not risk it."

"He chose our side," Lok pointed out.

"Yeah, and he knows this is the right side, but he doesn't really _know_ it yet. I'm…if Klaus hadn't been threatening Dante, I might have gone back to him."

"No, you wouldn't," Lok said decisively. "You're too good for the Organization."

"That's not the point, Lok. Klaus was my father. Mark and Aidan and Laura made a family. They could persuade him back; he doesn't care enough about us not to. I'd rather not risk it."

"We have his Titan."

"Yes, and Aidan has others. It's safer this way." She caught Lok's eye. "Safer for Tara, too. She shouldn't be part of this; she's not a Seeker."

"Yeah," he muttered. "I know. Come on, it's not far."

"Only seven miles, right?" Dante asked.

"About that. Come on. Nimblefire!"

***

KaliAnn: I like DS, but I mostly picked that title cos it's current. I haven't read any of the Demonata; I keep meaning to, I just don't get round to it.

Aria: Hi! I missed you the last couple of weeks. Glad you're back. Um, this chapter, and three more. And then on to the next story... :D

Dragon: Hi! I'm sorry, I know you had to wait a bit longer than usual.

Bleedinglotus: Hi! I'm always glad you see a new reader. Hope you'll stick around, things are hotting up for our heroes...


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: I forgot to explain it last week! A ceile is the Irish word for a party, usually spontanous and often in a pub. It generally involves Irish music and quite a lot of alcohol. :D

I'm on holidays for the next two weeks; I shall do my best to post on time, but please be patient with me if I can't.

Chapter Six

"Does that hurt?" Sandra asked.

"A little. It's fine, really." Sophie glanced around the room; Tara was sitting at the bookcase, absorbed in whatever she was looking at, and Mark was staring blankly at the fire. Scarlett was in the kitchen and the two other members of her team had scattered around the house.

"Mark, who came up with your spells?" Sophie asked, wincing as Sandra cleaned her shoulder.

"What?" He looked up, startled. "We all did. I mean, we taught each other."

"It's very impressive. Which ones were yours?"

"Um, leím."

"Jump," Tara said absently.

"Deateach."

"Smoke."

"Sciath."

"Shield."

"But why did you name them in Irish?"

"This is a Gaeltacht area, dear," Sandra said, taping down the gauze.

"Gaeltacht?" Sophie repeated.

"It means that Irish is the first language. A lot of kids around here don't learn English until they start school. Sophie, look at this." Tara held up the book she'd been reading from.

"Ross Castle," Sophie read. "That's where the others have gone."

"Yeah, but look at this. O'Donaghue, the original owner, flew out the window with his house…sorry, his horse…during an attack, and now he lives in the lake and sees everything that goes on. He's the ghost of the castle." She flipped the book, pointing out the passage to Sophie, who scanned quickly through it.

"That sounds like a Titan to me," she decided. "Mark, did you know about this?"

"No." Mark leaned over the table, reading the description. "I mean, yeah, the castle's supposed to be haunted. But it never occurred to us there might be Titans there."

Sandra looked across at Tara. "Tara, can you pass me that red book on the top shelf? No, beside that one."

Tara passed it over. "What is it?"

"Records," Sandra said absently, flicking through it. "From some of my family."

"Your family were from this area, right?" Sophie asked. "Were they Seekers?"

"Some of them. And I think I remember…yes! One of my ancestors – a great uncle, of sorts – found a Titan here. He wasn't able to bond with it, so he hid it 'Where none would find it, thou' the Lady herself search it out.' The Titan was called Holkan."

"Holkan," Sophie repeated. "Cypherdex!"

"It looks a little like a centaur," Mark said, watching the display. "If I saw that jump from a high window, I might think it was a man on a horse. What does he mean about the Lady?"

Sandra passed the diary to Sophie. "My ancestor used a Titan known as Nivaine the Huntress."

"Nivaine is one of the names for the Lady of the Lake," Tara said, looking up.

"Yes. Like Deachtaire, Nivaine was easily able to function under water. He must have had her hide the amulet in the lake."

"Why didn't he just take it to the Foundation?" Sophie asked.

"There was no Foundation at the time," Sandra explained. "Huntik was founded almost a hundred years ago. This was three hundred years before that."

"We need to let the others know about this," Sophie decided, rising to her feet.

"I'll go," Mark offered.

"It's fifteen miles."

He grinned. "Más cam nó direach an ród, 's í an bother mór an t'aicrata."

Sophie blinked, looking at Tara, who raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me, I failed Irish. Something about roads, and shortcuts."

"I'll drive him," Cathy said from the stairs.

Sandra straightened up, frowning. "Cathy, sweetheart…"

"I know something's going on. I don't care what it is. But Lok's not here, and Scarlett is, and you're worried. I'll drive the kid wherever he's going if it'll help."

"It'll help." Sandra hugged her. "Thank you, dear. Come straight back, won't you?"

"I will. Come on…"

"Mark," he offered.

"Mark. Let's go."

"Tara, can I see your ring?" Sophie asked abruptly.

"I'm not supposed to take it off."

"I know, but I think I can give Lok some extra warning, if I can see it."

Tara blinked, staring at her. "Really? But there's not a Titan in here, right?"

"No. No Titans. We placed a warning spell on it. So he'd know if anything happened to you."

"Oh. Of course you did." She slid the ring off, movements very precise, and placed it carefully on the table. "I'm just going to get a drink. Do you need anything?"

"No, thank you." Sophie waited until the kitchen door had closed before asking Sandra, "Is she alright?"

"A little overwhelmed, I think. She'll be alright."

Sophie nodded, closing her hand tightly around the ring.

***

Lok was halfway over the fence around Ross Castle when he jerked, losing his footing and falling. Zhalia snatched at him as he went past but missed by inches. Cherit squealed, catching his collar and slowing his fall; he couldn't hold him up, though, and they both crashed to the ground.

Dante jumped off the fence and hunkered next to them; Lok's eyes were open and he was sitting up, but he wasn't seeing anything. "Lok, you with us?"

"Yeah," Lok said absently. "Sophie. Man, she can yell when she wants."

"Sophie?" Dante repeated.

"I thought Tara had the ring," Zhalia said at the same time.

"Sophie has it now." Lok blinked, focusing. "Mark's on his way. Something important."

"What important?" Dante held out a hand, pulling Lok to his feet.

"I don't know, but I think we should wait."

"Mark's fifteen miles away," Zhalia protested. "We'll be here all night."

"No, I get the feeling he's a lot closer than that." Lok pressed a hand to the side of his head. "That's so weird."

"Lok," Dante said warningly.

"Sophie enchanted the ring I gave Tara with the early warning spell and now she's using it to tell me stuff." Lok rattled it off in one breath, smiling hopefully.

"You could have cast that spell yourself," Dante said mildly.

"That's what Sophie said," Lok agreed ruefully.

"There's a car coming," Zhalia warned them.

Lok scrambled halfway up the fence, leaning over it and peering down the road. "I think that's Cathy."

"_Careful_. We don't need you to fall off that side as well."

He grinned back at Zhalia, climbing over the fence as Cathy pulled up on the other side. Mark passed him, already talking urgently to Dante before he'd even climbed the fence.

Lok crouched by the passenger door, eyeing Cathy. "Cathy…"

"I don't know what you're doing," she interrupted him. "I don't want to know. Just be _careful_, little brother."

"I'm always careful. Thanks, Cath." He pushed to his feet. "Go home, ok?"

"Yeah."

She was gone before he'd climbed the fence; Mark was still talking to Dante, but Zhalia looked up when he joined them. "They think there's a Titan in the lake."

"O'Donaghue's in the…oh. Yeah, I guess."

Dante gestured him over. The holotome was already showing Holkan. "Your ancestor couldn't bond with it, so he hid it."

"In the lake, we think," Mark added.

"Great. How are we supposed to find that?" Lok glanced uncomfortably at the lake. "We don't have anything with us."

"Didn't you ever swim here?" Mark asked, grinning.

"No. Why?"

"Because if you swim out that way," he gestured away from the castle, "you get to a certain point and you just – turn back. It's too deep, it's too cold, you don't feel comfortable or safe." He looked at Dante. "I know I'm new at this, but if I wanted to hide something without anyone knowing…"

"I might use a spell like that," Dante agreed.

"Is that possible?" Lok asked.

"Of course it is. The Ring of Arc kept anyone from touching it."

"Yeah, by messing with our heads."

"That's what this is doing too. Mark, can you show me?"

"Yeah." He kicked off his shoes, pulling his jumper over his head.

"You two stay here," Dante added. "Keep an eye out for Aidan."

"Be careful," Zhalia said quietly.

Dante grinned, dropping his coat into Lok's arms. "We won't be long."

Zhalia deliberately turned away as they waded into the water. "Lok, you know this place?"

"Hmm, a bit. Why?"

"If they're in the castle, can they see us from here?"

Lok looked around carefully. "No. We're under a slope, part of the fortifications. Why?"

"Boltflare!"

The tiny ball of light drifted downwards, setting fire to a clump of grass. Lok grinned, gathering a couple of branches and adding them to the pile. "Nice."

Zhalia smiled faintly, turning to look out over the lake. The moonlight bounced off the surface, dazzling her.

She couldn't see Dante.

***

Tara was sitting at the kitchen table, hands locked around a cup. Scarlett was standing at the window, watching her quietly; she turned as Sophie came in. "I think I'll go see if Sandra needs any help."

Tara looked up as Sophie put the ring down in front of her. "Did you get him?"

"Yes. Mark's gone to help them. Thank you."

She touched the ring uncertainly. "Am I going to distract him or anything if I put this on?"

"No. Just try not to concentrate on him."

"I used to think I'd marry him, you know." She sighed, slipping the ring on. "Can you tell me what's wrong with him? Why he came home?"

Sophie considered it for a moment. "Part of it was this mission, but…did you know Lok's father?"

"No. They moved here after he went missing. I know stories, because Lok talked about him all the time, but I never met him."

"Eathon worked for the same people we do. He was really good, one of the best, but he went missing ten years ago. Lok found his journal a couple months ago and we've been following the clues he left, but we lost his trail. We solved a puzzle he couldn't and we don't know where he went."

"Lok thought he could find Eathon? No wonder he's messed up. Does Sandra know?"

"I'm not sure. He was going to tell her, but we've not exactly had much spare time."

"No, I don't suppose you have." Tara studied the ring.

"Lok's just as good as Eathon, you know. He'll be fine."

"Yes, of course. Curly's always fine."

"May I ask you something?" Sophie got up to make some tea, needing something to do with her hands.

"You can ask."

"You went to school with Lok, right?"

"Yeah, until he left for Venice."

"You're older than he is."

"Oh, that." Tara leaned back in her chair. "I had to repeat a couple of years."

"In preschool?"

"I was a year ahead of Lok when we met. Did he tell you what happened?"

"He said you were being bullied."

"Hmm. Having a boy that young try and protect me…he came out of it worse than I did, though. Good intentions, not so good with backing them up." She stood, bringing her cup to the sink to wash out. "I'm dyslexic, Sophie. It took my teachers a couple of years to catch it, and until they did – and for most of the rest of my school life - all my classmates thought I was dumb."

"You read that book."

"I can read. It just takes me a little longer. Beside, I knew what that book said. I didn't really need to read every word, just make sure I had the right section." Catching Sophie's look, she repeated, "I _can_ read. It just takes a while, is all. I could barely read at all in school; Lok took a lot of flak for making friends with me."

"Knowing Lok, that made him more determined than ever."

"Yes. He's a good person. Best I know."

"I'm sorry," Sophie murmured.

"What? No. You didn't know," Tara assured her, deliberately misunderstanding. "A lot of people get confused, since I work in a bookshop and all."

"Why _do_ you work there?" Sophie asked, following the subject change. If Tara didn't want to talk about Lok, she'd oblige. "There must be jobs that would be easier for you."

"Oh, there are. Lots."

"Then why?"

Tara smiled, and for a moment Sophie could see exactly why she and Lok were so close. "Because I thought I couldn't."

***

Lok was sitting with his knees drawn up, poking absently at the fire. Zhalia paced back and forth on the shoreline, watching the water.

"It's been too long," she said abruptly, turning to eye Lok.

"Yeah."

"We have to go after them!"

"I don't have my breather. Do you?"

"No," she muttered. "We have to do something."

"I'll go." Lok rose to his feet. "You stay here and watch out for…whatever."

"You have Deachtaire. Send him."

"He didn't bond with me. I think he's still bonded with Mark." Lok kicked off his shoes and turned back to her, holding out the amulet. "Here. You can try."

Zhalia shook her head, taking a step back. "That's not for me."

"Yeah." He dropped it next to his shoes, splashing noisily down the slope of the beach. "Boltflare!"

The ball of light hovered over his head, lighting the water around him. "They'll see you," Zhalia warned him.

"Maybe, but I can't see through the water without it."

A second boltflare arched up from the far side of the lake. Zhalia spun, staring that way; Lok's light blinked out, leaving her alone in the dark. Even Cherit had vanished, or at least she couldn't see him.

"Think it's Dante?" Lok asked from just outside the circle of firelight. Zhalia jumped despite herself; she hadn't heard him move out of the water.

"Must be. Aidan would have hit us from there."

"Cherit, can you fly over and check it out?" Lok asked, grimacing as he shoved wet feet into dry shoes.

"Aye," Cherit said from somewhere on Zhalia's other side.

"Don't let them see you," she said quickly. "Just in case."

The boltflare arched again. Lok brushed against her arm as he came to stand beside her, still dripping wet.

Zhalia dropped another branch into the fire. "It's turned cold," she noted.

"Ireland," Lok said with a shrug. He hunkered next to the fire, close enough that steam stared rising from his clothes.

"It's Dante," Cherit called from overhead. "He's fine!"

The boltflare arched again, heading to their left this time, towards the castle. "I guess we're going that way," Zhalia said with a sigh.

Lok rose to his feet, calling a quiet Augurfrost to smother the fire and scooping up Dante's jacket, dropping Deachtaire's amulet into one of the pockets. "Let's go, then."

***

Mark was leaning against the wall, eyes closed; he didn't open them as they approached. "Whichever side you're on, so am I."

"It's us," Zhalia said impatiently. "Where's Dante?"

He waved vaguely over his shoulder. "Behind me somewhere. We got separated."

"Come on." She caught his jacket, tugging him along.

"Ow," Mark said mildly, but he followed her when she let him go.

"How do you guys get in and out?" Lok asked. Cherit, apparently seeing something in the darkness, made a dive off his shoulder.

"Just around the corner, up there." Mark gestured up ahead.

Cherit landed back on Lok's shoulder, curling himself around his neck. "Dante's here."

"Thanks, Cherit."

"Mark, the others have Titans?" Zhalia asked, smiling in relief as Dante joined them. Lok passed him his jacket, grinning.

"Yeah."

"There were three Titans in the grave, right?" Lok asked.

"Four. Laura Bonded with one, but she can't invoke it. Aidan has the other two but he can't invoke both at once, and he can't invoke either for long."

"Dante, did you find Holkan?" Zhalia asked.

Dante held up the amulet, smirking. "Holkan."

"He really was there," Mark murmured, sounding almost dazed. He reached for the amulet but drew back before touching: Dante watched him, frowning, holding still.

"Dante," Zhalia said; Mark jerked, turning away. "Are we going?"

"Yes." Dante slid the amulet into a pocket. "Mark, you can wait here."

"No. I'll come with you."

"You don't have to," Lok said quietly.

"Yeah. I really do."

"Brave boy," Cherit murmured in Lok's ear.

"You'd better have this, then." Dante flicked Deachtaire's amulet at him; Mark snatched it out of the air, staring at him in disbelief. "He's your Titan," Dante reminded him.

"I can't control him."

"I think you can, now. But it doesn't matter."

"If you have a Titan, you can use your magic," Lok said, eyes bright.

"If you want to," Zhalia said, putting an odd emphasis on 'want'.

"Thank you," Mark murmured, fingers wrapped tightly around the amulet.

***

Neither Aidan nor Laura summoned their Titans, so Dante wouldn't let his team either. Mark didn't fight them, but he called translations for the Irish spells and stayed ready with a shield; like Aidan, he could throw a shield over another person. This freed Lok, Dante and Zhalia to attack without worrying about being hit, and they quickly overpowered the other two.

"Hand over your Titans," Dante ordered.

"Make us," Aidan snarled. "They're ours."

"Aidan," Mark protested.

"Traitor."

He took a step back, blinking. "Aid…"

"Bubblelift!"

Zhalia snagged both of Aidan's amulets, sending them up just over his head. Cherit caught them, ferrying them across to Lok, who took them gingerly by the strings.

"Geez," he murmured, looking at Dante. "They're really messed up."

"We'll take care of it," Dante assured him.

"Laura," Mark said quietly. "It's over. Just give it up."

"No! Nivaine!"

Mark blinked, glancing at Lok. "Nivaine was your ancestor's Titan."

"Caliban!" Dante called.

"Kilthane!" Zhalia added.

Lok surged forward, catching Aidan's shoulder and dragging him out of the way of the developing fight. "Everything was fine before you came along," Aidan spat, shaking him off.

"No, Laura was always going to do this," Mark disagreed. "You know she was, Aidan. She's dangerous."

"No. This is your fault!" He shoved them back, scrambling back towards Laura.

"Nivaine!" Laura yelled, gesturing at him, and the Titan knocked him head over heels.

"Deachtaire!" Mark called reflexively. Dante gestured Caliban back and Zhalia followed his lead, holding Kilthane ready.

"Aidan's out cold," Lok gasped, scrambling back to join Dante and Zhalia. "Should we be letting them fight like that?"

Dante glanced at Zhalia, who was watching them intently. "Yeah. I think so."

"I think she might actually be insane," Zhalia murmured.

Laura certainly seemed to have lost whatever reason she'd had; she was hammering wildly at Mark. He wasn't even trying to retaliate; just holding his shield in place was taking everything he had.

Deachtaire, overwhelmed, retreated to his amulet, and Mark stumbled, going to one knee under the pressure. "_Dante_," Lok protested.

"Wait a minute, Lok."

"He doesn't _have_ a minute!"

"Mark!" Dante called. The boy looked up, and Dante threw the Holkan amulet towards him.

***

The legend of Ross Castle and of O'Donaghue, who flew into the lake, are both real.

Kali: glad you're liking all the little bits! I love to put real details into stories; it makes them seem more realistic, I always think.

Lotus: I think if you're going to make the effort to review, the least I can do is make the effort to acknowledge it. The story's mostly about Lok and how he deals with what he learned about his father, but everyone has a role to play.

Phoenix: Glad you're enjoying! Hang in there. Only two to go, then it's on to the AU... :D

Aria: Hope you enjoyed camp! To be honest, most of the action is over by the end of the next chapter; the last one is mostly wrapping things up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Sophie was pacing. She knew she was doing it, she knew she was annoying everyone, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.

Cathy had come back a while earlier, but all she could tell them was that everyone had been fine when she dropped Mark off. She'd gone to her room a while ago, quietly shadowed by one of Scarlett's team. Tara had also disappeared; Sandra was doing something in the kitchen. Scarlett and the last member of her team were reading through some of the old records, pretending not to watch her.

"Shouldn't they be back by now?" she asked, lifting the window blind again.

"Not used to being left behind?" Sandra asked, coming in with a tray of sandwiches. Scarlett took it from her, smiling, and passed it to the boy beside her.

"No," Sophie admitted. "How do you do it?"

"With difficulty," Sandra told her. "Come sit down, I want to look at that shoulder again."

Sophie followed her to the table, accepting the sandwich Scarlett offered her. "It really feels fine."

"Better safe than sorry. You Seekers never pay enough attention when you're injured."

"We don't usually have time," Sophie said ruefully.

"Yes, Lok has a few extra scars this time," Sandra agreed quietly.

"He will keep throwing himself into things," Sophie said.

"Still? I thought you'd have cured of that by now," Scarlett said teasingly.

"If anyone was going to cure him it would be Zhalia. He listens to her over us, sometimes."

"Why?" Sandra asked, taping the bandage back down.

"Oh, since Australia. She really got hurt protecting him, and she didn't have to. And when she defeated Klaus to come back to us…he really trusts her now."

"They're back," the boy said, pushing the books aside to clear the table. Sophie jumped to her feet, watching anxiously as they came in. Dante, still wet, Zhalia with Cherit on her shoulder, Mark looking absolutely exhausted…

And Lok. Sophie threw herself at him, hugging him as hard as she could before letting go and turning quickly away.

"You're back," she said lamely, wishing her blushes weren't quite so visible.

"Tell us what happened," Scarlett said, taking pity on her.

"Did you find Holkan?" Sandra released Lok, pushing him back a step so she could look him over. "You're soaked, all three of you. Come in here next to the fire."

"Why do you have a fire in August anyway?" Lok asked, settling on the edge of the table.

"We found Holkan," Dante told Sandra, ignoring the fire debate. "There was a pretty strong spell defending him; your ancestor was strong."

"Speaking of." Zhalia tipped three amulets onto the table. "At least one of these belonged to your uncle."

"I wouldn't," Lok added when his mother reached for them. "They're pretty screwed up; Aidan and Laura really lost it there at the end."

"This is Nivaine." Zhalia separated out one of the amulets. "Aidan didn't invoke his, and we haven't had a chance to look them up."

"Where are Aidan and Laura?" Scarlett asked.

"Believe it or not, the police showed up." Lok winced as his mother began towelling his hair. "Ow, Mom. I guess we were a bit more obvious than usual."

"Laura totally lost it," Zhalia continued. "Mark got her amulet away from her. He was really good."

"So when the police got there, she was raving about Titans and powers and yelling 'gortaigh' at them." Lok took the towel away from his mother, glaring at her.

"Mark defeated her?" Sophie repeated.

Mark quietly held up the Holkan amulet. "Dante gave it to me."

"He Bonded and invoked Holkan at the same time. I didn't think you could do that," Lok said cheerfully.

"What about Aidan?" Sandra asked.

"We got his Titans away from him. He tried to go back to Laura but she attacked him." Dante pulled off his coat, sitting beside Lok. "When the police arrived, he backed our story that Laura was dangerous; he said he'd heard the noise and come to see what was happening, and _we_ backed _him_." He glanced at Scarlett. "Keep an eye out, but he shouldn't be any more trouble. He's seen what power does. I don't think he'll want any part of the Organization, if they do come through."

"I'll keep an eye on him, Dante," Scarlett promised.

"Good. Now." He turned to look at Mark, still lurking by the door. "Mark."

Mark jumped. "What? Yes." He pulled off the two amulets, holding them out.

"No." Dante waved him down. "That's not what I want."

"What, then?" Mark looked nervously around the group.

"Join the Foundation," Lok said, as though it was obvious.

"What? I…what?"

"Dante, the poor boy's in shock," Sandra scolded him. "Mark, come and sit down."

"I'm alright," Mark said faintly, letting her tug him to the couch. "Join the Foundation? I tried to _kill_ you guys."

"Not very hard," Sophie pointed out.

"No, but…"

"Hey." Zhalia leaned forward to catch his eye. "I was _on their side_ when _I_ tried to kill them. And I came a lot closer than you ever did. Take the offer."

"If I…if I say no…"

"Deachtaire and Holkan are yours now no matter what. We'll trust you not to misuse them." She didn't look up when Dante inhaled sharply. "But the Foundation can teach you so much more, show you how to use them properly, teach you new powers and new abilities. You can do some good to make up for everything the three of you did."

"I don't…I need to think about it."

"You'd be working for Scarlett," Dante told him. "She's the Foundation's lead representative in this area. Lucky for you, though, she doesn't hold a grudge."

"I remember Bonding with my first Titan," Scarlett said. "It was confusing and scary, and I knew what was happening. I can't imagine having it happen by accident."

"I Bonded with Kipperon by accident and under fire," Lok offered. "If the Organization had tried being friendly instead of shooting at me, I might have gone to them instead of Dante."

"I…Organization, I don't…"

"It's too late for this," Sandra said firmly. "Now, we've enough rooms for everyone but you'll have to double up. Scarlett, you're sleeping with Cathy, yes?" She divided up the rest of the group, assigning them beds or couches, and got them moving. "You can talk to the boy tomorrow," she said when Dante tried to resist. "Let him think about it for a few hours. He's worn out."

"It's no good arguing when my mom makes her mind up, Dante," Lok told him. "I'd give up gracefully if I were you. Mom, where's Tara?"

"Your room. She went up an hour or so ago. Poor girl was exhausted. She's really not cut out for this."

"No," Lok muttered. "She's not."

***

Sophie followed Lok quietly upstairs, ignoring the smirk Zhalia threw at her. Tara was curled up on top of the blankets on Lok's bed, fast asleep; one arm was wrapped loosely around a stuffed bear, but she let it go without waking up when Lok tugged lightly at it.

"It's cute," Sophie murmured. It wasn't, really; 'well loved' would have been much more accurate. 'Falling apart' could have applied, either.

Lok nodded, staring at it. "When I was eleven we went to a carnival. First time our parents had let us go out on our own like that. I decided I was going to win the best teddy there to celebrate."

"And you won that?" Cherit asked, settling on his shoulder.

"No. I couldn't hit the target. The guy felt bad so he gave me this little keyring thing, fluorescent yellow, really horrible. Tara carries it now. She won this."

"She told me that she used to think she'd marry you," Sophie said quietly.

"Yeah. Well, who doesn't want to marry the boy next door at some point?"

"Did you want to marry her?"

Lok looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time. "That's a long time ago, Sophie."

"Months."

"Lifetimes." He touched Kipperon's amulet. "This is my world now. I can't turn my back on that."

"No one's asking you to," Tara mumbled.

"I thought you were asleep," Lok said, but he didn't sound surprised.

"I could tell, what with the talking really loudly right over my head." She sat up, taking the bear from him. "Why would you even think about leaving your friends, Curly?"

"After the night we had, you want to fight that side of the argument?" Lok dropped next to her; she threw a leg over his lap, shifting until she was leaning comfortably against the wall.

"I'm not signing up with the Foundation to fight evil Titans. Do you hate me?"

"No!"

"Then why would you think we'd be upset at you? You made a commitment and you're following through. Why would we be angry about that?"

"Because you…I hate when you do that."

"How do you do that?" Sophie added.

"I'm smarter than he is. You should be able to do it, too."

"Modesty, Tara," Lok protested.

"You have to admit, she's good," Cherit pointed out.

"I don't have to admit it where she can hear me." He smiled when Tara looked at him, though.

"I'm really ok, Lok," she said, suddenly gentle. "Promise. I can't join you, but I'm not going to try and hold you back, either. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," he murmured.

"Eathon would be proud of how good you are."

"You think?"

"Of course he would." Sophie sat carefully on the end of the bed. "How could he not?"

"Zhalia said I could be the best in our generation," he said slowly.

Tara leaned around him to look at Sophie. "Can he?"

"It's true he's very talented, and he has a lot of power."

"Wow, Sophie, if I didn't know better I'd say you liked me," Lok said with a grin.

Sophie tossed her head, looking away. "Of course, I'm _far_ more powerful than he is."

"Of course you are," Lok agreed, rolling his eyes for Tara's benefit. "That must have been you throwing Rassimov around like a rag doll."

"That was impressive," Sophie admitted.

"Excuse me," Tara said politely, "but power depends on how much you practise, yes?"

"Yes," Cherit agreed. "Practise gives you more control over your magic."

"But you can't make more talent. So it seems to me that more talent and less power is better than the other way around."

"Mark is like that. All instinct." Lok disentangled himself, going to open the window.

"It's raining," Tara protested.

"So? You're inside. And it's really warm in here."

"Such a considerate host."

He made a face over his shoulder, fixing the window open and coming back. This time he sat a little closer to Sophie.

"Think Mark will accept?" he asked after a minute.

"I think so," Sophie said thoughtfully. "He really loves his Titans, anyone can see that. Joining the Foundation will help him with them."

"Mark's going to sign up?" Tara asked. Her eyes had drifted closed again, but she still sounded relatively awake.

"Dante asked him to join up. He hasn't decided yet."

"Get your mom to talk him into it. No one ever says no to her."

"Yeah." Lok slumped down on the bed, propping his hands behind his head.

Sophie started to protest…he was on her foot…but he wasn't really that heavy, so she didn't bother in the end.

***

When Sandra checked on them half an hour later, Lok and Sophie were tangled together, asleep, and Tara was propped against Lok's back, reading by the light of the moon outside. Cherit was curled on one of the pillows.

"Tara, dear, there's a spare couch in my room," she whispered.

"No thank you, Mrs Lambert. We're fine here."

"Try and get some sleep."

"I will."

Sophie opened her eyes when Sandra closed the door. "Tara?"

"Hmm."

"Are…never mind. Do you have enough room?"

Tara sat up, studying her. "I told Dante if he hurt Lok I'd make sure he paid."

"Did you? But Dante would never hurt Lok."

"I know. But Lok needed to hear me say it. If you hurt him there'll be trouble."

"I would never..."

"And you could hurt him far worse than Dante could."

"We're not…" Sophie lowered her head, praying it was too dark for her blush to show up. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Uh huh," Tara agreed. "Lok's like my little brother, and my best friend, and my other half, Sophie. He's klutzy and immature and he never thinks things through..."

"Love you too," Lok mumbled into his pillow. Tara grinned, motioning Sophie to wait; Lok sighed, shifting and settling back.

Tara counted under her breath before nodding, gently pushing Lok's bangs off his face. "He's asleep again."

"How can you tell?"

"He's never done that to you? He did that to me all the time when we were younger."

"Little brother," Sophie said suddenly.

"Yeah. You have a brother?"

"No. I have a bodyguard."

"Not quite the same thing, but close enough, I suppose." She could hear the smile in Tara's voice. "Do you trust him?"

"With my life."

"That's sort of the point," Lok slurred.

"Still asleep?" Sophie asked softly.

"He's really hard to wake up when he's this tired. Unless something's seriously wrong. He's got this instinct for it."

"Yes, I've seen it."

"He's the best person I know." Tara looked up, catching her eye. "That's what I was going to say. Clumsy, and careless, and never thinks first, but the best person I know. I'd trust him with anything, for any reason. But I can't follow him now, not where he's going. It's your turn."

Sophie watched her for a moment. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "If it weren't for the Foundation, he'd have come home."

"He did come home. He's home now. And in a few days he'll go off with you guys again, globe trotting, and you'll take care of him, and he'll be back. There are worse ways to spend your life."

"Why're you awake?" Lok asked. He sounded more awake this time, but Tara was still carding her fingers through his hair; although he tended to simply ignore her when she rubbed his arm or hung out of him, he didn't usually let her near his head.

"You drooled on my pillow," Sophie said sweetly.

"Oh." He rolled over. "S'ry."

"Sure."

Tara grinned suddenly. "Hey, Curly?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Tomorrow we should take Sophie fishing."

"Yeah, 's fun."

"And then we could bungee jump."

"Uh-huh."

"And you could cook dinner."

"Fine."

She grinned over his head at Sophie. "Try it, it's fun."

"Well, I always wanted to try out Kipperon. Maybe you could unbond with him, Lok, and I could try."

"Anything you say."

"He won't remember tomorrow, unfortunately," Tara said, "but he will have this weird feeling he's forgetting something."

"I'll have to remember that." Sophie smiled, pushing Lok off the blanket. "Goodnight, Tara."

"Night, Sophie."

***

Lotus: I find using legends that I'm familiar with sounds more realistic to the readers than using ones I've just looked up five minutes before. Plus I *like* our legends over here in the Emerald Isle. :)

Kali: Wow, glad you're enjoying so much! One more chapter to go...

Phoenix: Hi! Glad you liked the true legend of O'Donnell. Because I forgot to say it earlier, Holkan is the Russian version of a centaur.

Evil Tree: Thanks! I was a little worried about Tara, but everyone seems to like her pretty much, so...


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: And we come to the end of another fic. Next week we're starting a new one; please, please, please read the warnings in my profile first, ok?

***

"…so then Mark defeated Nivaine, and we were able to separate Laura from the amulet." Lok sat back, his part in their carefully concocted story over.

"We have the amulets here, but they're going to need some care before they're ready to Bond again." Dante held up the amulets.

"The police have Laura in custody; she tried to attack them when they showed up. Without her amulet, though, she couldn't cast any spells." Zhalia glanced at Sophie.

"And that's about it, really." She smiled innocently before sitting backwards.

Since Sandra didn't have a communications system like Dante, they were using the holotome's system. This restricted Guggenheim's view a little; he couldn't see Sandra at all, which had made her report on Nivaine and Holkan much more interesting than it might otherwise have been. Likewise, he couldn't see Scarlett, but she'd had relatively little to contribute so far.

"I see." Guggenheim studied them for a long moment before turning to Mark. "And what was your part in all this, Mark?"

"Mark was trying to stop them!" Lok said quickly. "He was like Zhalia, only the other way around."

Tara, safely out of Guggenheim's view, laughed softly at that; Lok glared at her, and she pressed both hands against her mouth, holding the noise in.

"Mark?" Guggenheim asked.

"Go ahead, Mark," Dante encouraged him.

Mark took a deep breath, looking down. "I wasn't with Aidan and Laura when they found the Titans. Deachtaire made some mess, but he didn't hurt anyone. And I don't think I did, either. But I didn't try to stop them, and I could have."

"Could you?" Guggenheim asked.

"I don't think I could have stopped them, no sir. Certainly not after Scarlett, not once they'd realised that other people had Titans too. But I could have tried."

"It seems to me," Guggenheim said thoughtfully, "that you stayed with them, to limit their influence as it were, until you found some help to take them down. Which you accomplished without hurting anyone."

"Laura's insane."

"She was going that way anyway," Tara pointed out. Guggenheim craned around, but he still couldn't see her. "Trust me, Mark, you didn't hurt her any worse than she hurt herself."

"Scarlett tells me you've been offered a place on her team. I'd like to make that offer official."

"It's very kind, sir, but I start college next month." Mark had apparently decided this during the night; he didn't sound uncertain at all.

"I see. And what are you studying?"

"Languages, specialising in lost Celtic and Romantic dialects."

"Well, the Foundation can always use linguists. How long is your course?"

"Four years."

"Good, good. I'll be expecting a call in four years, then. Scarlett, think you can manage until then?"

"I could teach him a lot in a month, Guggenheim. Make sure this is what he wants to do."

"Sorry, I'm…are you offering to wait for me?" Mark blinked, totally lost.

"I _think_ they're offering you a summer job while you're studying, and a full job when you graduate." Lok grinned when Mark just gaped.

"That's the idea, yes," Guggenheim agreed. "Student life is expensive, as I dimly recall. And I'm sure if we're creative enough, we can find you jobs that'll count towards your course credits. What do you say?"

"Yes please. Yes." Mark nodded quickly, turning to look at Scarlett. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome."

"See if you're still happy in a week," her teammate muttered from the kitchen door. "Slave driver, this one."

"Careful, Jon," Scarlett said, grinning. "There are worse jobs than the ones you're doing."

"Aye, the ones you'll have him doing." Jon retreated when she glared at him, smiling.

***

"Leaving us already?"

Tara paused at the gate, looking back. "I think you have everything in hand. I'm not sure how much help I can be."

Zhalia pushed away from the tree she'd been leaning against. "You help Lok."

"Lok's fine. He's going back with you."

"That's not what I was worried about."

Tara started to answer, pausing when Lok burst out of the house. "Tara?"

"Evening, Lok."

"Are you leaving?" He paused by Zhalia, glancing sideways at her.

"Yeah. Time I went home, I think. Let you enjoy your holiday."

He laughed softly. "Hasn't been much of a holiday yet."

"All things come, Curly."

He glanced at Zhalia again, catching Tara's arm and walking her on several feet. "You have to go?"

"My mother's waiting at home. I haven't been back in two days." She studied him for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"They want me to be better than my dad," he murmured.

"Is that what it's all been about? Curly, I doubt that."

"They do," he insisted. "Everyone keeps saying it. How he was the best, and I'm even better, and I'll be the greatest ever."

Tara looked back at Zhalia; the older girl couldn't hear them, but she was obviously aware they were discussing something important. "What's wrong with being the best, Lok?"

"I don't want to be better than him. I just want to bring him home."

"Don't be better than him, then. Just…be better today than you were yesterday. Tomorrow, be better than today. Stop measuring yourself against him."

"You make it sound so easy," Lok muttered.

Tara smiled, leaning against the wall. "I know. It's a skill."

"Pretending like you understand?"

"I _understand._ I just can't empathize. Or maybe I mean that the other way around." She frowned, thinking about it, and he laughed without meaning to.

"I love your honesty."

"Hmm. I love when I make sense. I think I'm tired."

"You can stay."

"No. It's time to go." She started to turn away, pausing and looking back. "Want to make me a promise?"

"Not if you're going to phrase it like that."

"You'll like this one."

He glanced over his shoulder at where Zhalia was still waiting for him. "You're making me really nervous here, Tara."

"Aw, come on, Curly. Would I embarrass you in front of your friend?"

"Yes. If you could." He grinned when she pouted. "What promise?"

"Talk to Sophie?"

Lok swallowed the instinctive "What do you mean?" and nodded quietly. "I'd really like to."

"You should. I know people, Lok Lambert, and you should talk to her. 'Specially if you're going to be chasing down Titans and crazy Lookers...Finders..."

"Seekers..."

"...all the time."

"It's not _all_ the time," he protested.

"Near enough." She caught his arm when he turned away, hauling him back around to look at her. "Be who you are, Lok. You're pretty cool. I didn't make friends with you because you're Eathon's son. I made friends with you because you're Lok."

"You made friends with me because you felt badly that I lost a tooth protecting you."

"There's that," she agreed. "Lok Lambert, defender of the weak and helpless. And me."

He laughed softly, lowering his head; she touched his arm, catching his eye when he looked up. "You keep saying Mark's a natural, that anyone can see how much he loves his Titans and how much he loves this life. That's what we see in you, Curly. Go be a Seeker, and forget about what you're trying to live up to. And I'll be here the day you bring Eathon home."

"I really did miss you," he murmured, pulling her in for another hug.

"Yeah, I know. I'd miss me too." She grinned at his outrage, turning in his grip to catch Zhalia's eye. "See how I made him smile? I'm putting you in charge of making sure he does that every chance he gets, alright?"

"You know Lok," Zhalia said with a shrug. "Stubborn."

"Hey!" Lok protested.

"Bye, Curly."

"Bye, Tara."

She was almost out the gate when he called "Tara? Are you..."

She lifted one hand without stopping when he trailed off, twisting it awkwardly so he could see the ring on her finger. Lok laughed, turning away and heading back towards the house.

***

They stayed for four more days, taking the holiday that had been their original excuse. Lok showed the team around, pointing out historical sights and favoured spots from his childhood. They went to the reburial of the Black Friars' remains, watching the ceremony quietly.

Aidan watched them from the other side of the graveyard. He didn't approach them, or the graves, and they ignored him.

"We should do something about him," Zhalia murmured.

"We are doing something about him," Dante assured her. "We're ignoring him. Scarlett's keeping an eye on him; he won't go for power again. If he ever does find another Titan, he'll come to the Foundation."

"You have so much faith in people," she said, almost wistfully.

"An easy life will do that to you," Lok said from just behind them. "Now please shush. This is a funeral, and we're getting weird looks."

"Poor Lok," Zhalia said teasingly. "Afraid you can't come home again?"

"No, I'm afraid you'll get kicked out for unseemly behavior. Try and pretend you're awed or moved or something, please?"

Zhalia scowled, but she held her peace for the rest of the burial.

Aidan was gone when they turned to leave.

Scarlett called on their last day, wishing them a safe journey and telling them that Mark was already fitting right into her team. "You'll have to watch yourself, Dante," she told him. "We'll be on your tail next thing. Team Scarlett, taking the crown of Dante Vale and his kids."

"Yeah, but only in the holidays," Lok reminded her.

"Then you'll be level. You'll be going back to school in another month," Sandra told him firmly.

"Sounds fair to me," Dante agreed. "We'll be on a level playing field."

"Safe journey," Scarlett said, vanishing.

"Is everyone packed?" Dante asked. "We need to be going."

The team scattered to look for their bags and he turned to Sandra. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Thank you for bringing Lok home."

Dante smiled faintly. "I'm sorry we keep him away so much."

"I'm not. Not if he's happy. Take care of him, Dante."

"I will. I promise."

Lok clattered back in, arguing over his shoulder with Cherit about something; Sophie followed him, loudly trying to take Cherit's side, and Zhalia ghosted in after them, Dante's bag in her arms. Dante shrugged apologetically at Sandra and began herding his team out the door.

***

Dante paused outside the bookshop in Kilorglin, eyeing it. "Lok? We have a few minutes, if you want."

"No thanks. Tara and I said goodbye already."

Sophie fell into step beside him as they walked. "Nice to be home again?"

"It's weird. We came home a month ago, and we had a mission and everything, just like this time. But I feel so much i_older_/i this time."

"Like you've left something behind," Sophie murmured.

"Mmm – yeah, kind of like that." He pulled his father's journal from his pocket, studying it. "You think I can find my father some day, Sophie?"

"I think you can do anything you set your mind to, Lok. If you want to find him, we'll find him together." Lok grinned, and she blushed furiously. "I mean as a team. All of us."

"Of course. All of us, as a team," Lok agreed solemnly.

Cherit, wrapped around his neck as usual, nodded quickly. "All of us!"

"Think he's alright?" Dante murmured, keeping his voice down so the kids wouldn't hear him.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Zhalia asked, equally quiet. "We're not best buddies."

"You've spent more time alone together."

"We spent a week in Australia, surrounded by the Organization, and he had a fever! We weren't exchanging life stories."

Dante shrugged, smiling, and she sighed. "Yeah. I think he's alright. He's more himself than he was before the mission, anyway."

Ahead of them Sophie laughed at something Lok had said, shoving him playfully. He took the hit with a grin and a ducked head, protesting his innocence all the time. Cherit grinned, almost falling off his shoulder.

"That's good to see," Dante murmured.

"Does that mean we can go back to missions?" Zhalia asked, deliberately drawling the words.

"Yeah." Dante glanced at the ring on his hand, the ring holding the Titan Behemoth. "Let's get back to the missions. Let's finish Eathon's quest for him."

Lok grinned over his shoulder at him, catching the words, and then had to duck when Sophie aimed at him again. "Hey! Can you find the airport? No? Then stop beating up on your guide."

"I could too find it! It's…" She hesitated, looking around.

"That way," Cherit said helpfully.

"That way," she said, a little more doubtfully.

Lok scowled at Cherit. "Spoilsport."

Sophie laughed, letting Cherit scramble onto her shoulder, and they walked on together.

***

***

talkstoangels: Really? I didn't know there were actually people like that! I just thought it was funny...

Kaliann: Thanks!

Phoenix: Just this one. New story next week! :D


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